Downfall
by DarkElements10
Summary: -Sequel to Out of Doubt-. -Third in Series-. There are those who question the credibility of a legend and those who believe every word. Aided with the presence of something they thought never existed, Zack, Cody, and their friends are now able to see how everything started…and now they know how to end it.
1. PROLOGUE

**Downfall**

**By: Riley**

**Summary**** \- **-Sequel to Out of Doubt- There are those who question the credibility of a legend and those who believe every word. Aided with the presence of something they thought never existed, Zack, Cody, and their friends are now able to see how everything started…and now they know how to end it. BaileyxCodyxOC ZackxOC TapewormxMax OCxOC

* * *

PROLOGUE

"Why is this happening? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

The scream of frustration echoed around the high walls and high ceiling in the otherwise empty room. Nothing but a bed to sit on, a mirror to look into, books to read, and thoughts to consume the mind. A sigh was released after the effort of the scream; a resonating sigh. There was no sense in trying to reason with all of them. That's what happened when free will was given over to help further technological advancement. Talked about but never achieved. Medicines, technology, different things would make life easier for everyone around the world. That was fine, right? What they were doing was helping everyone else so why should they not be able to sacrifice something to get there?

And that's why he was there. He as the guinea pig who was tested on to see if they had managed to do the unthinkable. A new type of medication? He was stuck with it and was put on 24-hour surveillance to document the side effects. New sort of technology? He was the one who had to sit there and use it until any bugs were uncovered or there were any flaws in the security system. At first he said he would do anything to help the resistance, do anything to get rid of their existence. To get rid of _them_ all together. He enjoyed theline of work at the beginning, knowing they were finally going to get what was theirs back.

Then again, the more he worked on it, the more he started to wonder about them. What were their lives like? How was it different from the way he lived his life? Where they harmful to the lives around them? Or were they helpful. You weren't supposed to start thinking. If you started thinking, you started to question everything.

He questioned everything and now he wasn't so sure if what they were doing was worth it. These were innocent people who had their own lives and had gotten used to those lives and now they were potentially taking it all away from them? Forcing them to try and relearn how to be 'normal'.

Now he wanted out.

They said it was a good thing they were doing.

He hoped they were right.

* * *

**A/N: **Yep, after a month off I'm back to writing! And now I can do the last story in my trilogy. Though looking back on the first two (this one being done almost a year later and the first one being done probably two or three years before) I can see my improvement as I went along with them. It's kind of weird, but you can easily see where my ideas shifted. Anyway, this is the prologue, I'll have the first chapter up soon, and I'll have a cover photo/fic cover up here and on twitter soon.

Also, I need to thank _tiger002, __Crystal, _and _Rhu _for giving me ideas for this story.

Cheers,

-Riles


	2. The feeling I'm constantly being watched

CHAPTER ONE

* * *

Bailey Pickett stuffed her hands into her coat pockets as she watched cars zoom in front of her, trying to reach their destination at all costs. Her eyes narrowed against the brightness of the snow around her, reflecting shards of sunlight from the partly cloudy skies above. Boston in the winter was beautiful to her; she wasn't used to the cold, though nights on the farm could be competition.

But the blanket of snow was a new beginning.

It covered everything in a cool blanket, when melted everything started anew, started over, allowing things to change.

But not everything could change.

Some things had to stay the same or else no one would recognize anything around them. She realized that fact pretty quickly; it was a part of her life now. Whether she wanted it or not.

Bailey looked up as the light signaled she could cross the street and she fell in with the masses as they all filed off in one direction. Bailey walked along, her snow boots getting excellent traction, keeping her upright though her feet threatened to slide out from underneath her with nearly every step. Bending down, Bailey picked up a handful of snow and clenched her fingers around it. Her fingers squished the snow out to the sides, allowing it to slide through her fingers and drip to the ground once more. After a few seconds of the mind-numbing cold, she turned her hand back around, letting the packed snowflakes fall to the ground.

Bailey tucked her hair behind her ears and continued walking along the slick sidewalks of Boston back to her house. It wasn't exactly her house, she was just allowed to live there.

After the SS Tipton…

She couldn't think about that right now. About the schooling she gave up, the friends she hadn't seen. She wondered how London and Woody and Addison and Moseby and Miss. Tutweiller were doing, how things had gone down after the SS Tipton had finally docked back in the port and everyone was taken off so damages could be worked on. She figured Mr. Moseby would have gone back to become a manager at the Tipton hotel, but this was different, too. Boston was only just getting back to the way it was before, though there were still big differences.

"Hey Bailey."

"Bailey, hi."

"Hope you're having a nice day, Miss. Pickett."

"Please stop by when you can."

Bailey smiled politely and nodded at everyone who passed her, greeting her by name. Before the big battle, no one knew who she was and she had liked it that way. The constant attention now, it wasn't something she was nearly used to. The searing looks, the expressions of pity, the proud smiles... She was almost nineteen and they were recognized even more than the biggest celebrities in Hollywood. As a young girl she had dreamed of that sort of thing, now that it was her reality she wanted nothing than for things to go back to normal.

Bailey stretched her arms over her head, letting out a loud sigh; a mixture of content and annoyance. She was never one that knew how to deal with attention.

_"Don't worry Bailey, things will settle down soon," _Geneva said.

"_You'll get used to it," _Gattaca added.

Bailey smiled to herself. "Thanks guys." It was good to know they were still there. They had grown to be some of her best friends even if they weren't technically real. They were real in a sense, but not real to the sense of being things you could touch. Depending on who you asked.

Bailey spotted her house in the distance and hurried up the street, into the house. "Hey I'm back!" She called, hurrying to close the door so the frigid fingers of the cold wouldn't seep into the house. "Sorry, I'm late, the bus was running kind of slow."

She dropped her backpack to the ground and walked into the living room. Tapeworm Michaels looked up from the book he was reading and smiled at Bailey. "It's alright, we haven't started yet. Mom and Dad aren't home." He used his thumb to mark the book and placed it face down on the coffee table. "How was class?"

"Not bad," Bailey said. She walked over and sat down on the other end of the couch. Bringing her feet up, she tucked them under the blanket that served as decoration. It was a beautiful blanket, hand-woven from his great grandmother, but right now she was using it as a means to warm her feet. Spring and winter in Boston were no joke, she was learning. "We were talking about morals and code of conduct and stuff." Bailey lightly rolled her eyes, running a hand through her hair. "Of course this was when students weren't constantly asking me about our last battle and everything."

"I thought it'd come up at some point," Tapeworm remarked. As he said this, Ursa appeared in his small form on his lap, curling up in a ball. "I mean, now we're able to go around without worrying about being captured or tested on, I've gotten more looks than usual. Everyone know my name now. Weird right?"

"Definitely weird," Bailey agreed.

"I mean, Max always wanted to be able to have everyone knew her name, but that was from dancing or whatever." Tapeworm smiled, shaking his head. "If she saw how things were going down now, if anyone told her before, she would have laughed her head off." Tapeworm's smile waned for a second and he sat up straight, dropping his arms into his lap. "Then again, it gives us more freedom to do stuff instead of having to get all holed up all the time."

"Yeah, the progression of the world knowing all about elementals now is kind of cool," Bailey said. Suddenly, a feeling of dread washed over her. "Only, I'm sort of afraid knowing there's going to be a chance this will blow up in our faces."

Tapeworm's eyebrow twitched at the corner. "When does it not?"

Bailey smiled.

She and Tapeworm laughed.

* * *

"Cody, you need to wake up, right now!"

Cody Martin's eyes blinked open and immediately settled on the clock. It was only three in the morning. It was still dark, dark enough he couldn't see who was standing beside him and waking him up. There were only four options, one of which wouldn't work out as she wasn't supposed to be in there. However, the other three were probably sadistic enough to do something like this in their own ways. Wait until he was just starting to fall asleep and get rudely woken up again.

Well, five options. But the one he was used to wasn't there with him.

Cody smoothed his long hair out of his face. When had he gone to sleep? He couldn't remember now; too much work and time flying by.

"Cody!"

Cody let out a grunt of pain when something heavy landed on his back and head at the same time. _I should be used to it at this point, Zack did this when we were kids all the time. _Cody started to push himself up, at the same time the lamp clicked on. Cody groaned again, holding a hand over his face, nearly blinded. _What have I done to deserve this? _He opened his eyes as a shadow fell over him, and looked up into Christian Manning's face. The older man was peering down at him, a toothbrush hanging out the corner of his mouth.

"We're going to miss our flight," he said and then walked over to a door placed by the sink. He pulled it open, revealing the back to another door and knocked on it. "Crys? Hurry up, we gotta get going soon."

"I know, daddy, I'm packing up my stuff!" Crystal called back.

Christian closed the door and walked back over to the sink, spitting out toothpaste and saliva before running the sink water, rinsing out the toothbrush. He tossed it aside and grabbed a wash cloth to run it over his face.

Cody let out a heavy sigh, dropping his head back onto the pillow.

That's right.

They were in Canada, getting ready to take a flight back into Boston.

He momentarily thought about where Zack was, and figured he was on a plane back to Boston as well. Or maybe he was still at their house? He wasn't sure, the time difference was hard for him to calculate this early in the morning. They had all only been apart for only two months but it was enough. They all needed to get away from each other for the time being, to get away from the memories of what had happened at the fight with Mother Nature. Cody raised a hand up to his neck where he could feel a thin, puffy line. One of the scars remained from the battle, a constant reminder to how things used to be. Dropping his hand from his neck, Cody reached up and dug his fingers into the side of the body lying across his head.

Aaron laughed and rolled off of Cody's head as Sydney Jackson rolled off his back and the two landed on the floor with dull thuds. Just about eleven years old and the two of them were as rambunctious around each other as they had been when they first met, before Christian had adopted the blonde, sightless boy. It was still hard for Cody to see how capable Aaron was though he had become blind at such a young, impressionable age. He was willing to do anything he could without anyone's help even work with some dangerous chemicals when it came to the experiments Christian would ask his help with. His disabilities had to be helped by his intensely high IQ and ability to take care of himself.

Sydney, on the other hand, had known he was a genius from an early age, as he had been told. Teachers noticed how bored he had been in school fairly early and sent him out for testing. The results came back loud and clear, he was more advanced than other students in his class. His foster parent at the time, Robert—who coincidentally had the same last name as him and his siblings—decided to keep him in his classes as opposed to advancing him when he had the chance. Because of his increased brain power, he was able to understand even the most complicated equations, facts, and figures as well as wrote papers with some of the big name professors at big name universities.

It was still funny to see how childlike they could be even with some of the best opportunities they could have at their fingertips. Just like the one Cody had, why he and Zack had left Boston to go their separate ways. He hadn't gotten into Yale like Bailey had, and he had been pissed, but after Christian offered the position to be his assistant as he went back to a lab in Quebec, the area he had grown up, Cody knew he couldn't turn it down. So for the past two months he followed Christian around as he went to speak at conferences, have meetings with other scientists, and work on his own experiments and the whole while, they had all been recognized. Not for what Christian was doing but for the fact he was "one of the strongest elementals of their time" something he had been grown tired of hearing. He got it the first time, did he have to _keep_ hearing it?

Cody yawned, swinging his legs out of the bed. He stretched his arms over his head and bent over, cracking his back. Once he was upright again, he used his super speed to race around the hotel room, gathering his things and pushing it all back into his suitcase, zipping it as far as it would go. Once he slowed down enough, he went over to the sink. He looked down into the empty tub and held out his hand, a blue hue surrounding his hand as the familiar feeling of energy moved through his body, reaching his hand in a strong buzzing feeling. As he concentrated water snaked its way out of the faucet and followed his hands movements, creating a ball of water that floated in the air.

Cody spread his hands and the water thinned then, bringing his hands closer to his face, he manipulated the water to move over his face, the warmth opening his pours. Flicking his wrists, the water turned cold and he felt his pores snap shut. Cody then moved his hands back down and the water fell into the sink, falling down the drain.

_I've never been happier to have my powers than right now, _Cody thought. He ran his hands through his hair then ran around the hotel room getting dressed. As he moved about, Christian, who was moving at normal human speed, appeared to move an inch every second Cody moved at excess of 100mph. Finally, Cody sat down on top of his suitcase, patiently waiting as Aaron and Sydney played some game on Christian's iPad.

"I'll be ready in a few minutes, guys," Christian said. He was now standing at the sink, shaving. "We're not going to miss the flight." At the sound of a knock on the front door, he reached over and grabbed onto the door handle, pulling it open.

"I'm ready to go," Crystal said, wheeling her suitcase into the hotel room. She leaned over and gave Aaron and Sydney a kiss on the top of the head before giving her father a side hug. She turned to Cody, sitting down on top of her own suitcase, spinning a hotel card key in her hands. "How'd you sleep?"

"I would have slept better if those two didn't keep me awake," Cody said, pointing over to the younger boys. They were still so preoccupied with their game they didn't look up. "They kept tossing and turning and kicking each other and…I thought Zack was worse but that's laughable now." He snapped his fingers, flicking his hair out of his face. "Oh, and they jumped on my head to wake me up."

Crystal laughed a little, then pushed her glasses up her nose. "Yeah, they do that sometimes. I should have warned ya." She then placed her hand over her mouth. "Actually, after how long you've been out here, you figured you would have learned after the first time."

'Yeah, well, that's the point of learning, you don't actually get the idea of it until it literally hits you," Cody replied. He yawned again, resting his chin in his hands as he studied Crystal. The two months they had spent together was the most they had talked in a while, they were actually friends again, not having to worry about the past relationship they had. They didn't bring it up much anymore, it was like the fight with Mother Nature showed them what mattered and what didn't matter and everything was clearer.

Crystal clear…

Cody smiled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Crystal raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Cody held out his hands and formed a ball of water between them. He juggled it back and forth, it steadily increased and decreased in size the more he passed it back and forth. Crystal held out a hand, hers glowing a light blue, and hardened it into a ball of ice. Cody's eyes lifted to hers and he turned it back into a ball of water. "So I think the last conference went well, what with the announcement that Elementals are now being regarded as citizens and everything. Which is weird because they were before, people just didn't know who they were. It's a weird thought though, those that never awakened now can if they want, and those that decided to hide who they were, they can reveal it."

"Yeah, well, with every good thing, something bad happens," Crystal reminded him. Cody gave her a look. "I'm not being a pessimist, I'm being realistic. We're going to be up on this pedestal as long as we need to, but who knows what's going to happen since Mother Nature."

Cody reached out and grabbed onto her hand. "Everything's going to be ok, Tally."

Crystal's face twitched before she pulled her hand away from his grasp. "Can you promise that?" She shook her head, answering his own question. "I doubt it." She brushed her hair behind her ears and smiled a genuine smile. "But let's not worry about it now, we're going home and we're going to see our friends. We deserve some happiness, god knows it's been a while since we've all been completely happy."

Cody nodded back, giving a genuine smile as well.

* * *

Zack Martin watched the fluffy clouds slide across the cerulean sky. The sun was shining, there was a balmy breeze, the grass underneath him was cool and comfortable; he was indeed in paradise. Too bad he had to leave it soon. He understood all the hype about it, why people always wanted to go to the beach and never wanted to leave. It was relaxing and there were times he found himself sleeping for long stretches of time, just enjoying the sunshine around him.

Zack sucked in a deep breath and let it out through his mouth. The sun warmed him in a way that made him sluggish, refusing to let him move from the spot on the ground.

There was a sharp peck on his forehead, a tiny pinprick that caused searing pain. "Ouch!" Zack's eyes flew open just as a tiny eagle flew over his head and landed on his chest. The red feathers blended into the rustic brown of the rest of his body. "Blazen, what'd you do that for?" He brought his hand up to rub his forehead, but was met with a long, pink, tongue slathering up the side of his face.

"Yeah, he's awake."

Zack brought his arms up around his face as he felt little pin pricks on his cheeks and tongue moved over his nose and mouth. "Ugh!" Zack sat up and turned so he was sitting on his heels. Blazen flew out from underneath him before landing on the ground with the other guardians were surrounding him. "I'm not a buffet!" He laughed, dragging an arm across his face. "What d'you want?"

"Mistress Rhuben asked Master Patrick to be sure you woke up," DeathLiger, the lion of darkness, explained. He walked around in a circle, his mane being pulled by the wind, then sat down with Blazen, DalFang, ThunderTatsu, SilverTatsu, and a full grown lion who was sitting off to the side of them. "So we came and woke you up."

Zack turned a glare over to the large, golden lion who was sitting on the ground, running its front paw over his forehead. "Did you have to do that? I mean, if you wanted to kiss me, you could have just let me know before you ran your tongue all along my face." The lion gave a snort and before Zack's eyes, morphed down so Reihu was kneeling on the ground in front of him. The teenager stood up and shoot his dark brown hair out of his golden eyes.

"What would have been the fun in that?" Reihu smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. He tilted his head back towards the large house behind the two of them. "Besides, Rhuben told me to do it, she thought I'd be funny."

"Do you listen to everything your girlfriend tells you to do?" Zack brushed off the seat of his pants and held out his arm, allowing his guardian, Blazen to land on his forearm and hop up until he landed on his shoulders, sitting down, digging his talons into Zack's shirt.

"Not everything," Reihu said. His smirk widened. "But I have a better time of keeping my ass from getting kicked like you do."

Zack smirked back. "That's only because I enjoy it so much."

He laughed and leaned over, grabbing his shoes from the ground and started to walk back up the sloped backyard, the guardians running around his feet in their small forms. His eyes swept around the pool, with the cool tiles surrounding the water, the slide which led into one side, a bar sitting on the other. The picnic tables around the plastic chairs, flanking the sides of the fire pit sitting on a slab of concrete by the basement door. The trampoline sat in the back corner of the yard along with two hammocks resting from trees which gave shade to the backyard. He walked up the steps of the wooden deck, eyes moving over the backyard, the spacious backyard he always dreamed of having.

One of his biggest life dreams was to be able to have all of the money he could think of to make sure his family would be ok. He had an obsession with it, growing up, because of all of the material things he could get. After watching his mother try and save money for years he started to think about it different, wanting to be able to save as much as he could to help her out if she ever needed it. So he stashed some money away, but openly talked about the money he spent or stole from Cody. What would his reputation be if he was found out to be someone who was smart about his money and really did care about his brother and mother's wellbeing before his own? There were the rare moments he would show it, otherwise he'd kept it quiet.

"Zack, are you coming up?"

Zack turned and saw Patrick Jackson standing in the doorway to the kitchen, holding the glass door open. He nodded and went inside, waiting for the guardians and Reihu to pass him, before closing the door behind him. The cold air from the AC blasted him in the face, stinging his bare arms from his t-shirt sleeves. He rubbed his arms for a moment before stretching them over his head. "So what's for lunch?" He asked, pulling himself up to sit on the counter.

"Pizza," Rhuben replied. She opened the oven door and pulled out a large cardboard box out of the oven. She placed it on the island before pulling out three more. "Just came in about ten minutes ago. Unfortunately when Noah ran it in, it got cold." She turned around, closing the over door with her foot, and leaned against the island. "So we had to reheat the stuff."

"I said I was sorry," Noah commented. Zack looked over at the table, only just noticing Noah and Riley were sitting at the table, waiting for the pizza to be ready. Noah passed a paper cup back and forth between his hands. "I didn't think running so fast and using my powers to keep it aloft was going to cool it down so quickly."

"No worries, No," Riley said, bent over a magazine. Her cheek rested in the palm of her hand, angling her head down towards the glossy sheets of paper. "It's still going to taste good." She then sat up and winked at her brother. "Besides, the only reason I didn't offer to heat it up was because I was afraid I'd turn it to charcoal."

"Like last time?" Patrick teased.

"That was Zack's fault, not mine," Riley protested, pointing over to her boyfriend.

Zack made a sound, chewing on his fingernail. He brought his hand down from his mouth and crossed his arms over his chest. "Sorry, I was distracted," he said with a grin, causing Riley to roll her eyes and shake her head. "Lack of oxygen to the brain can do that to ya." He tapped himself on the temple before jumped down and taking one of the empty seats at the table. Reihu took the seat directly to his right and Rhuben sat down next to him, placing the pizza on the table in front of everyone. Zack jumped at the sound of a low growl and glanced over at Reihu, who rubbed his hands together before grabbing four slices of pizza and sliding them onto his plate.

"I thought I told you to stop doing that," Rhuben said, casting a side-eye to her boyfriend.

"No, you asked me to stop doing that when we were making out," Reihu said. He grabbed a slice and took a large bite, almost completely swallowing it in one bite. "Besides, I can't help it anyway, it's part of my lion genes and everything."

"What time are we leaving tomorrow?" Zack took a couple of bites of his pizza before ripping off a large chunk and dropped it onto the floor, letting Blazen hop over to it and started pecking at it to eat himself. He ran a hand over his face. "Early, I bet."

"Bet," Patrick agreed. "No point in even going to sleep, mate. Just stay up, get through customs. Sleep on the plane." He looked at his watch, frowning at the face for a moment. "I can never read this thing," he murmured.

"That's ok." Noah shrugged and slowly smiled, keeping his eyes on his plate. "You can't count past one anyway," He laughed along with Riley and Rhuben as Patrick shook his head, not taking any offense to his joke.

Zack pushed back his chair and tilted his head back so he was staring up at the high ceiling. He didn't think he'd be going to back to Boston so soon. He had been waiting for it, waiting for the time he would go back to the city and have everyone know who he was. Being in Australia it was hard to go anywhere without being stopped, it wasn't bad though, it wasn't his home. Going back to Boston would be better, it was a sense of comfort, being able to go home. And with everyone knowing the things he can do, it would be easier to live there, instead of wondering who was going to jump him at the last minute. Now he could go around the Tipton hotel and the park and wherever else he wanted to go without being paranoid.

He didn't have to hide, he didn't have to act like something he wasn't.

He could finally be himself.

Though there was a tiny part of him that wondered how after the battle with Mother Nature they were able to keep their powers. He also wondered why he had felt the small pang of annoyance when he found he did still have them. Everything was so complicated, there weren't any answers, no matter which way they turned.

"Zack, are you ok?" Noah asked.

"Yeah." Zack lowered his head. "Just thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself," Riley teased. Zack stuck his tongue out at her before flicking his hair from his face. He was going to need a haircut soon. She noticed his frown but didn't ask him about it, knowing it was better for him to work through his problems and ask for help on his own time. "Have you finished packing yet?" At Zack's humming sound she shook her head. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

"Dude, I can get it done in, like, five seconds," Zack protested. "Besides, that's not the problem."

"Then what is?" Rhuben and Reihu chorused.

"The feeling I'm constantly being watched."

* * *

**A/N:** I wanted to have this one focus on Zack, Cody, and Bailey because the three of them are the main-main characters with Sydney and Aaron along with them, and everyone else is main too. Considering he'd usually be with his siblings, Julius wasn't shown in this chapter on purpose, of course I have a reason for it. Next chapter will be up soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	3. Home, sweet home

CHAPTER TWO

* * *

"Home sweet home," Zack said as he opened the door to suite 2350 and flipped on the lights. Blazen immediately flew off his shoulder and circled the room twice before perching on the back of a chair. He shook out his feathers and puffed out his chest before settling himself down. Zack smiled, tossing his bag aside and closed the door behind him. "I guess you're still not happy with airplanes."

"Why would you want to be in an airplane when you can just fly yourself?" Blazen replied. He cocked his head to the side, sharp eyes watching Zack's every move across the suite. "And you call that stuff food? I've eaten better off a forest floor."

"At this point I think you're just too used to being able to do whatever you want," Zack commented, flopping down onto the couch and stretching out his legs. He brought a hand up and rested it on his forehead, closing his eyes. "It was bad enough that you were squawking the entire flight back, but did you really have to fly around the whole plane pooping on people."

Blazen hopped down into the seat of the chair and turned into his human form. His wings slumped against his back; shoulders slumping at the same time as his face feel. His cheeks reddened to match the color of the marking on his cheeks, maroon eyes shifting towards the floor. If Zack hadn't known that he was much older than the average human and not quite human itself, he would have mistaken his guardian for a young teenage boy. He had a habit of acting ht way at times, which seemed to match Zack's own. No wonder Cody was annoyed of his brother form time to time.

"It was an accident," Blazen defended himself. He stuck out his lower lip, pulling at the frayed ends of his pants. "I told you I get nervous whenever we get in one of those things." He was silent for a moment longer then popped up from the chair. "Is there anything to eat?" He headed over to the refrigerator and pulled it open, sticking his head inside.

"I doubt it," Zack replied, eyes still closed. "We haven't been here in, like, two months and you know Mom is usually the one that stocks it whenever she and Cody are coming back from camp or whatever." He lowered his arm from his forehead, chin still pointed towards the ceiling. He frowned, eyebrows lowering for a moment. "I wonder how she's doing."

The thought had crossed his mind more often than he wanted the past couple of weeks. Things had changed since he, Cody, and Bailey had left the SS Tipton with their friends two years before. He still remembered the expressions of shock and fear on his parents' faces when they first saw Blazen and Phantom. Things had been fine at first, Carey and Kurt had taken the news better than expected. Then the city was evacuated and the two had told their sons how they really felt; they couldn't be around their twin sons when that much danger was present. Case in point, Zack's fear had come true. They didn't understand and didn't want to understand.

So the Martin boys were on their own.

It was what Zack had always wanted growing up; to prove he could handle himself in the real world.

Now that his wish came true he only wanted to take it back.

Zack continued to sit on the couch, feet up on the coffee table and head tilted back. He took a few deep breaths before feeling slumber start to take him over. His fingers twitched on the top of the couch. He tried to fight it off the best he could, eyebrows moving around in grotesque shapes as he struggled to open his eyes.

Sleep hadn't come easy to him since the battle against Mother Nature. He could practically set his watch to it; he'd fall asleep, lost in the darkness that swirled around him as he entered the dreamless state. Then he would hear the screams of pain and torture coming from those that had been caught up in the battle, innocent bystanders that had unfortunately become the casualties of war. Then everything would play out for him; his friends getting hurt, the city destroyed by the arboris that Mother Nature had sent down to aid her cause, the expelled energy that left him a burned out mess by the end of the fight, his body lying in a hospital bed with a scar along his cheek and arms, and the aftermath, leaving Boston to start fresh, leaving his brother behind.

The nightmares continued to plague him every time he tried to sleep, forcing long bouts of insomnia as the days went on. He did his best not to think about it, but had to face reality once more once arriving back in Boston. Riley had offered for him to go back to the Mannings' house with them, so he wouldn't be alone in the suite but he had turned down the offer. He was going to have to go back at some point, why put off the inevitable?

Zack's lips twitched in the corner, his head jerking back and forth every now and then as the mages flashed through his head over and over, faster and faster. Light whimpers escaped his lips as the images continued on.

Blazen, who had managed to find a bag up chips in the cupboard dropped the snack and went over to his ward. Reaching out, he poked Zack on the side of the head with his finger, as he would with his beak if he was in his natural form.

"Zack? Are you ok?" His frown deepened when Zack didn't respond. "Zack?" He grabbed onto his shoulder and started to shake it. Zack's head lolled back and forth on his shoulders, eyes squeezing tighter together. Blazen unfolded his wings, the red tips started to glow, the temperature in the room rising.

"Whoa! Did the thermostat break?"

Blazen turned as Cody and his guardian, Phantom, walked into the suite. Phantom lifted himself from Cody's shoulder and glided over to his brother before turning into his human form and standing next to him as well. His hawk-like eyes immediately turned to Zack.

"Something's wrong," he noted to Cody.

Cody twisted his mouth to the side and hurried over to his twin brother. Looking down into his face Cody was suddenly struck with the notion that he didn't particularly recognize it. Since the last time he had seen his brother, Cody had never seen the amount of stone-like edge in his face. Had it always been there or was he only just noticing it? Was it ever seen in his own face? He could worry about it later.

Tucking his long hair behind his ear, Cody leaned over his brother's face and frowned with concern. After a couple of moments of watching, he sat down on the couch next to his brother and grabbed onto his shoulder, pressing his thumb into it hard. Lifting his free hand, he waited as it became encased in a blue hue, the palm and fingertips becoming covered with tiny droplets of water. Pressing his hand to his brother's forehead, Cody watched his brother's face. It relaxed slightly but he still hadn't woken up. Frowning, Cody continued to apply pressure to Zack's shoulder and finally Zack started to stir, his eyelids twitching and his shoulders lifting off the back of the couch.

"Are you sure I can't just start a fire under his butt?" Blazen asked. Despite the situation, he sounded excited at the idea of being able to cause minimal harm to his ward.

Cody smirked at him. "I've been trying to do that with his studies for years," he said. Turning back to his brother he gave his brother's shoulder a quick jerk then leaned back as Zack let out a loud gasp and his eyes flew open. He took a few quick breaths before leaning forward, resting his face in his hands. "You didn't eat a bunch of pizza before going to sleep did you? God knows it gives you the worst dreams along with bad breath and bad farts," he added with a light laugh.

Zack's eyes narrowed in a glare that he directed at his brother, lifting his face from his fingers. "You could have said anything else to make me feel better and you went with that?"

"Mushy goodbyes and hellos aren't our thing, remember?" Cody reminded him.

Zack gave him a small smile. "Yeah," he said. "I remember." Opening his arms, he leaned into his brother and gave him a warm hug, slapping him on the back. Cody hugged him back with the same amount of enthusiasm. The time they had spent apart, to take their mind off of what had gone on before they had to leave. Pulling back, Zack took in his brother's face, his smile fading into one of disbelief. "I know we used to dress you up as a girl sometimes, but I think you may have taken it too far this time," he remarked, seeing his younger brother's longer hair. Zack leaned back, eyes moving over the ponytail that poked out from behind Cody's head. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Other than wanting to make a change?" Cody shifted back until he was resting against the armrest. Subconsciously, he reached a hand up and ran it over his hair. "I didn't think it was that bad." He shrugged. "It's better than when I turned my hair red."

Zack laughed slightly. "Oh yeah, that had me laughing for a looooong time."

Cody made a humming noise, an expression of amusement on his face. "I know." He nodded once. "You took pictures and blackmailed me with it for days."

"Months, actually," Zack interjected. He got up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, picking up the bag of chips that he had left on the counter. Wiping the spilled ones into the trashcan he walked back over to Cody, holding out the bag.

Cody eyed the bag then looked up at his brother as he sat down. "Ok." He grabbed the bag and looked through it. "What did you do to these chips?" He held out his arm and Phantom turned back into his eagle form and perched on top of Cody's arm. Blazen did the same, landing in Zak's lap. "Did you poison them or are lace them with laxatives?"

"Being around hose scientists and their experiments must have caused you to inhale a few too many toxic fumes," Zack remarked. He took the bag and made a show of shoving a large handful into his mouth. He chewed them loudly before speaking, spraying bits of food from his mouth. "How was it anyway? Being around all of those smart people that want to try and help us. That must have been a welcome change."

Cody shrugged again.

He was trying to downplay it but it had been better than he originally anticipated. Before everyone had left, Christian had too many run-ins and phone calls from reporters from local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations wanting to talk to everyone that had been involved with Mother Nature. The captured footage was shown all around the world and they had all become more famous than any of them could have imagined. It was Christian's idea that they all get out of dodge to allow things to cool down.

The Jacksons had jumped at the chance to go back to Australia, Crystal wanted to go back to Canada and that left the others in limbo. Christian had gotten the opportunity to work with his former colleagues as well as speak at a series of a meetings and panels in direct correlation to elements and those that managed to awaken to their powers. He extended an invitation to Cody to joint hem and Sydney had expressed interest in going as well. Zack had originally planned to stay in Boston, having made a final decision to bypass college and figure out what it was that he really wanted to do with his life, before Patrick pointed out it'd be beneficial if he got out. Stepping out the front door of the Tipton had been hard and Esteban had to increase security when it was found out that Zack and Cody lived there.

Tapeworm and his parents were going to stay with relatives down in Florida and planned to take Bailey with him, making him the only one that would have stayed behind. Julius had noticed his hesitation and with that, declared that Zack was going to go with them.

His hesitation wasn't because he had wanted to stay in Boston; it was because he hadn't wanted to be separated from Cody. Not again. Not after he had lost him the first time, it nearly caused him to go into a massive breakdown. He had managed to destroy a couple of buildings and almost hurt his friends even further due to his increased powers from the element stone. He didn't want to be around anyone in case he lost control once more. Cody had easily seen it in his twin's face and was the one that gave him the final nudge to going, they would be back together soon and it would be better if they spent some time apart.

Would things really get better? So much had changed since he was fourteen years old and thinking that having those powers was the best thing in the world. It was all fun and games until he realized how serious everything was.

"It was really fun," Cody finally said after along moment of thought. He had become more calculated, trying to find the right words to express everything. "The research that has been going on over the years is fascinating. I never knew that there were people out there that were trying to make things easier for us elementals." He scratched the side of the neck where a thin, pink line was raised; a lasting mark from one of the arbori wrapping its vines around his neck, literally squeezing the life out of him. "It was really cool seeing how they were trying to help us and what they've done over the years." He briefly moved his gaze towards the ceiling. "Apparently Core had been really helpful to them over the years, being the one that funded a lot of it."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them for the man they had originally been their main adversary. Up until it was revealed he had actually been working with them for ages, he appeared to be one of the most evil men in the world, especially considering the questionable experiments and surgeries he had done on innocent people.

"Anyway," Cody broke the silence once more. He nudged Zack on the shoulder. "You went to Australia, how was that? You always said you wanted to go to a tropical place for a vacation."

Zack lifted a hand, allowing Blazen to messily eat chips from it. He couldn't stop the smile that slid onto his face. "It was awesome!" He ran his hand over Blazen's back, taking note of the way the smooth feathers felt under his fingers. The last time he had taken the chance to do that, the feathers were matted with blood, covering a body that had been doing its best to keep breathing.

Were those thoughts ever going to go away? Every time something good happened, every time he was supposed to have a good thought or have a moment where things were peaceful, it all came back. Maybe he was cursed. Or maybe he finally realized that there was no such thing as perfect and that the world really was out to get him. Why else would he have been given these powers that did nothing but make him miserable-those that put him in situations more difficult than any adult could go through. It was also what had managed to keep him alive, but now he knew that whenever something good happened, something bad happened and he adapted to sensing them before they came.

"Now I understand why people rave about it so much," Zack continued. "Everything was just so green and bright and lively. And the people there were so nice."

"And you got to spend that much time with your girlfriend," Cody pointed out.

"That was a plus," Zack agreed.

"Did you…?"

"No."

Cody made a tsking sound with his mouth. "That sucks."

Now it was Zack's turn to shake his head. "Not really," he said. "I mean, I've got more important things to think about." He turned the chip bag over in his hands and studied the date. His nose wrinkled and his stomach lurched to the side. "Like how sick we're going to be after eating these things? Mom _really _needs to do a better job with her cooking or stop leaving hold bags of food in the suite."

Cody tilted his head back and laughed loudly. "Figures the one thing you'd be worried about is food."

"I'm a growing boy, I can't help it," Zack defended himself.

"That's the same excuse you gave when we were growing up and you ate my food before I got the chance." Poking his brother in the chest, Cody smirked at him. There was a new life in his eyes, one that had been missing since he had left Boston. A haunted, stern darkness had filled them instead. Now his baby blues started to lighten.

"It proved my point didn't it?" Zack made a show of flexing his arms, muscles popping out of the taut skin. "You're still skinny as a rail."

"At least I'm smarter than a rail," Cody shot back.

Zack laughed and ran a hand through his hair. "Good one." He looked at his watch, letting out a low whistle when he saw how late it had gotten. No wonder he had been so tired when he returned to the Tipton. Standing up, Zack yawned, stretching his arms over his head. "Hey, we should be getting some sleep," he said. "If we're going to face this new fame, we should be well rested."

Cody rolled his eyes. "No matter how much sleep we get, we're never going to get used to this."

"I know."

But they deserved to have some time where they acted like nothing was different. He didn't say it out loud, but that's what Zack thought. Who knew how much longer they could continue to act like that.

Sleep was the only way it would be realized for the time being.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah a bit of a short chapter, but I wanted to have it focus entirely on Zack and Cody and their reunion as well as implying some things that had gone on during the battle against Mother Nature. I hope you guys liked it.

Cheers,

-Riles


	4. A major case of déjà vu

CHAPTER THREE

* * *

Cody ran his hands through his shoulder length hair, laying his head back on his pillow. His eyelids lowered slightly as he watched his brother pull on his clothes, a toothbrush hanging out the corner of his mouth. Lifting his left arm above his head he glanced at his watch, and then looked over at his brother once more.

"Since when do you get up early?" He asked voice groggy. It caught Zack's attention who turned and continued to hold the toothbrush at the side of his mouth. Cody looked away in disgust as a line of drool seeped out of his brother's mouth and fell to the floor. As usual, Zack didn't bother to clean it up.

"Staying with the Jacksons all summer will make you change your habits," Zack mumbled, rubbing at his eye. "I swear to God they're robots or something. They get up early and have a schedule to fill their day. It's no wonder they can't ever sit still." He rolled his eyes then walked over to his brother's bed, sitting down on the end. "So today's going to be the first day you've seen Bailey in a while. What are you going to do?"

Cody glared so fiercely at his brother that he got up from the bed in one quick movement, holding his hands up defensively. "Sorry. I was just asking a question." Cody shook his head and sat up, running his hands over his face. "You're going to have to see her at some point and considering we've all been back in Boston for a couple of days now, trying to lie low and hope that we can get a little bit of normalcy, you're going to have to talk to her at some point."

"I know." With the finality in his tone, Cody got up from his bed and walked over to the dresser, pulling out a simple blue t-shirt and brown cargo shorts. After quickly changing into them, he picked up his brush and started to run it through his hair, staring at his reflection. Every freckle that was starting to disappear as he aged proved that his childhood was really being left behind, replaced by the scars and marks that were reminiscent of every battle and moment he had to grow up through. Each and every one was tougher than the last, even having to find himself through the throws of adolescence—which he found to be more challenging at times. "Especially considering we all need to talk about Mother Nature and everything."

"That's something I'd rather _not_ think about," Zack murmured, his hand instinctively going to his cheek. He dropped it as if he had just burned himself and then went over to his brother, clasping him on the shoulder. "I'm sure there's something that we can find that'll take our mind off it. Let's go see what Esteban is serving for breakfast today."

Cody's nose wrinkled. He turned to Zack, tying his hair back into a ponytail. "You hate the breakfast food here. You say the eggs are bland, the toast is too dry and crumbly, and that the oatmeal is all lumps." He rolled his eyes. "Somehow you even convinced some of the younger kids here that they actually serve eyeballs in it."

"It's Esteban; you know where he's from!" Zack threw his hands into the air. "What do you think is actually going to be in there? His best friend is a chicken you know." He went back over to his bed and sat down, pulling on his shoes. "I mean, he does a good job at running the hotel, even better than Moseby, we certainly got away with more stuff. But I draw the line at the food." He made a motion of drawing a line across his throat and laughed.

"Good to know that you still have a sense of humor," Cody mumbled.

A heavy silence filled the room. Zack twisted his mouth to the side and watched his brother as he continued to nervously run his hands over his hair, as if he still wasn't used to the long locks that now reached his shoulders. It was funny in a way, the two of them had—even he knew it was stupid—longer hair when they were fourteen and constantly mistaken for girls, and now he was worried about what he looked like now? They had faced death so many times and he still cared about his appearance. Zack had thrown that out the window ages ago.

After having millions of people all over the world watch the broadcasted fight, why did any of that matter anymore?

Zack got up and grabbed onto Cody's shoulders. He dug his fingers in and pulled him away from the mirror, propelling him out the door and towards the front of the suite. "Whatever, come indulge in some gross food with me or you're going to crack the mirror." Cody swatted his brother not he arm. The two left their bedroom to find Blazen and Phantom inside an open cabinet. Cody held out his arm. "C'mon guys, we're going to get something to eat."

"Thank you." Phantom spread his wings and soared over to Cody, landing on his outstretched arm. "We were just saying that we didn't want to have to live off of chips for the rest of our lives."

"You don't even have any Twinkies," Blazen added. He flew over and landed on Zack's head, lightly poking him with his beak. "Those are my favorites."

"Mine too, buddy, but they don't make those anymore," Zack said. He and Cody laughed at Blazen's startled gasp as they left the apartment. "Trust me; I was just as upset as you were."

Cody rolled his eyes an exchanged a glance with Phantom. "He even went out and bought out the Paul Revere mini mart of all of the Twinkies, ate half of them, and sold the other half to whoever would pay him top dollar for it."

"Oh! So you're rich now?!" Blazen asked. He leaned over and placed his face in front of Zack's, turning his head so that an eagle eye was staring directly on Zack's own baby blues.

Cody laughed loudly. "Not even close, Blazen, but that's a nice thought." Cody pressed the call button on the elevator and the two stepped inside.

Once the doors closed and the elevator lowered to the ground floor, Cody could immediately feel his guardian tense and place his talons tighter into his arm. Cody reached out a hand and gently ran his fingers over Phantom's back, hoping to calm him down. He understood how the guardian felt at times. They were so used to roaming free, being able to go anywhere and do whatever they wanted. Even when the teens were all at school the guardians would either wait inside their masters and mistresses or wait back at their homes, hidden from sight until their families or anyone that could see them left.

He felt the same way now, though in the opposite direction. He had been so used to hiding everything, having to run off at a moment's notice, not knowing if those at WingzCorp would be smart enough to attack during school, hiding a big part of himself. Now that it was all out in the open, he wanted nothing more to do than shut himself out and not have everyone look at him so differently.

As a hero.

_Yeah, right._

Cody scratched his neck, feeling the puffy skin under his fingers and immediately flashed back.

The energy from the element stone had been stronger than he anticipated. Once he felt all of the energy flow through is body he rushed towards an arbori; one of the green toned humans made completely of plants and vegetation. His speed had been enhanced even further, causing him to move so fast he couldn't control it. Instead of smacking straight into the arboris with a solid punch like he anticipated, he lost his footing and fell heavily on his side into a parked car. The car practically fell to debris under the force of Cody's slam. Before he could raise his hands, the arboris was on him, hands turning into vines and wrapping around his neck tightly.

Cody raised his hands as they glowed a bright blue and he blasted out hard balls of water at the arboris. Instead of knocking it back like he anticipated the seemed to harmlessly deflect off the arbori and flew off to the side. All around him Cody could hear the sound of his friends fighting; their grunts of effort and pain encircled the area. Even the sound of the helicopter's rotary blades was drowned out. Everything started to muffle around him as the vines started to squeeze tighter and tighter by the second. Cody reached up his hands and grabbed onto the vines. Muscles bulging with the effort, he started to pull, trying to force them away from his neck. He could feel the vines starting to dig painfully into his neck, stinging the harder he pulled.

Finally with a loud cracking sound as he broke the ropey strands, Cody pulled the arbori off of him. Bringing his right arm back he shot it forward, encompassing the arbori in water and a blue beam of energy. When he lowered his hand, the arbori was reduced to a smoking pile of leaves. Cody lowered his right hand and lifted his left to his neck. His skin was slippery with the blood that coated his fingers when he pulled his hand way. The cut wasn't too deep, nothing that needed immediate medical attention, or what a quick healing could do.

Cody pushed himself off the car and looked around him, his eyes moving to the portal that had opened in the sky. The arboris continued to steam out of it, it seemed there wasn't an end in sight, no matter how hard his friends were fighting. And then there was Mother Nature in the middle of it wall, watching with a heated smile of satisfaction.

He knew that he would never get the look of that smile out of his head. No matter what amazing memories and experiences he could potentially experience that would outrank them, there were always some things that would be stuck.

The doors to the elevator opened and Zack and Cody barely managed to squeeze out before racks and racks of clothing were shoved inside by the bell boys. Cody exchanged a glance with his brother then followed the path of oncoming dresses and skirts to see where they were coming from.

"Be careful with that! It certainly costs more than what you're wearing and it's still as hideous as ever!" Cody's mouth dropped open when he recognized London Tipton's loud shriek. Comically, he rubbed his eyes, trying to discern whether or not he really was seeing what he was seeing. Or, as the case was, _whom _he was seeing.

London Tipton followed the bell boys through the lobby, watching to be sure they didn't mess up her clothes or scratch up the clothes rack they were hanging on. Cody was even sure that the rack was made of the best silver money could buy. It wouldn't surprise him. The image of London being in the Tipton hotel was what did surprise him. He hadn't seen them in years…two years at this point, ever since they had left the SS Tipton to try and fight off Zhane, who was under the control of Gattaca at the time.

"London!" Zack cried, getting her attention as she passed.

She turned and looked at the two boys with a blank expression on her face before smiling. "Cody! Zack! How are you guys? Aren't you glad the stupid sea school is over?"

Cody resisted the urge to roll his eyes. London's constant mixing up of his name didn't bother him now so much as it had done before. He always wondered what had happened to them when Zhane had attacked them when they were on the ship. Back when things first started, before Bailey had known about their powers, before they found out about Geneva and Gattaca, before Koto's and Max's deaths, before they had been detained by the government, before they had found the element stones, before…everything. It always sat in the back of his mind, where were London, Mr. Moseby, Woody, Addison, Marcus? Now she was back at the Tipton hotel as if nothing happened, as if they had never gone in the first place.

"I'm Cody," he corrected her quickly. Licking his lips, he exchanged a glance with Zack before stepping over to her. "Yeah, graduation must have been pretty good," he said with a half smile. "I bet you're glad that you're finally able to get away for good."

London rolled her eyes. "I wish," she snorted. "Daddy's making me go until graduation and that's not for another two years." She nudged Zack on the arm. "Geez and I thought he was the smart one." Rolling her eyes, she turned back towards the candy counter desk where a young brunette man was stocking the shelves. "Ugh. When is Maddie going to get back from college? I'm sure she would have been bored without me being her roommate. Who else is she going to spend her first year with?"

"First year?" Zack repeated.

But London's attention had turned form the twin boys and back to her clothes as they were finished being put into the elevator. She then stepped into the other waiting one and went up to her penthouse suite. Cody slowly turned from the elevators, his eyes narrowing as he did so. Something wasn't right here.

"What's wrong?" Phantom asked. He feathers started to puff out, like they always did when he was aware that Cody was having nervous or ill feelings. "I can feel it. Something's wrong."

"London has never really been that bright, but she said something extremely weird right now," Cody said, scratching the back of his head.

"What did she mean that it was Maddie's first year on college? She's getting out next year," Zack said slowly. His eyes were narrowed a well, rivaling the expression of extreme suspicion that Cody was feeling. "And…she should be graduating now. I mean,"—he gestured to Cody—"like you said, London isn't necessarily bright, but even she would know when she should be graduating so she can finally leave that place. Hell, God knows we've heard it enough."

_That's what I was thinking, _Cody slowly nodded, his eyes moving around the lobby of the Tipton hotel. He couldn't help but get a feeling that something was wrong. He had become adept to noticing it at that point.

/_What are you thinking, Master Cody?_ / Phantom asked him telepathically.

/_That there's no way that London is that dumb. Otherwise, I have no explanation for it._ / Cody continued to watch the lobby. But for what? Some sort of a bomb blast that would blow up the ceiling? A meteor to come crashing through the windows? For Core to suddenly come back, guns blazing and to kidnap more people to use against them? Or for some sort of wave of darkness to take everything out in one swing? He even expected the Earth to suddenly fall into the sky, anything but for things around to be considered normal.

A familiar call sliced through the air, "Oh, Mr. Moseby!"

Zack and Cody shot their gaze over to the front of the Tipton hotel where Marion Moseby strode through the revolving doors, nodding at Norman the doorman as he went. Cody felt his mouth drop open as he looked over at his brother. The same thought shot between the two of them.

_What the hell?_

"Esteban, I hope things have been treating you well while I was gone," Mr. Moseby practically sang as he walked across the hotel lobby and over to the former bell boy as he stood behind the front desk. With a large smile, he gently rested his arms on the counter top. "I've heard nothing but good things."

"That's so nice to hear from _you_, Mr. Moseby," Esteban continued. "And I will be glad to give you your job of having the day manager job back." He puffed up the front of his dress shirt. "I can only do as well as you if I watch the best."

Mr. Moseby smiled. "You're doing fine." He took a step back away from him the desk. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see how the other employees are doing then I will go back to my apartment and spend the summer to myself." He turned on his heel and stopped short when he spotted Zack and Cody. A mixture of a grimace and a growl crossed Mr. Moseby's face before he stalked over to them with a tight lipped smile. "I know that you boys still have two years left on the SS Tipton and I bet you're glad to be back here, but please stay away from me over the summer. I need to have _some _peace and quiet from you teenagers at some point."

Before Zack or Cody could respond, Mr. Moseby walked by them and walked over to the candy counter and spoke with the young man there before disappearing around the corner towards the kitchen.

"Geez," Blazen said as soon as Mr. Moseby was out of earshot. "I forgot that guy was so snappy! He needs a good fire set underneath him."

"Or a way to cool off," Phantom agreed.

"Don't even think about it," Zack warned his guardian. He placed his hands on his hips, craning his neck to look up at him. "I can't take you anywhere. You're always getting into some sort of trouble," he scolded him. Blazen didn't seem to care about the fatherly tone Zack was giving him.

"In case you've forgotten, I'm the same age as you and I take a bit of your personality. So if there's anyone that always gets into some sort of trouble, it's _you_!" Blazen painfully poked Zack on the top of the head, snagging a few of Zack's blonde hair in his beak. A mischievous glint filled his eye as he spat the hair back to the ground.

Zack ignored Blazen and turned back to Cody. "So are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah," Cody said slowly. "A major case of déjà vu."

* * *

**A/N: **Looking over it again, I realized there were a few plot pints in _Mystic Melody _that that I had dropped without noticing. So they're going to be reappearing as the story goes on; as you can see when I finally explained what happened to those that were on the SS Tipton. And with that, the story now officially starts, so things are going to be more fast paced from here on out.

Also, some things that happened in real life (like the Twinkies thing) obviously don't fit in a correct timeline with this story, but its fiction and I can do what I want. Haha.

Cheers,

-Riles


	5. Our vacation's over

CHAPTER FOUR

* * *

"Tapeworm, c'mon or we're going to be late," Bailey called, pulling her hair over one shoulder. She smoothed down the flyaway pieces that escaped the hair style. Pursing her lips, she brought down the ends of her hair towards her face, studying each strand. The old honey brown color had been changed with a dark, somewhat candy apple red. She loved the color as soon as she had seen the box in the Rite Aid and figured it was time for a change.

_After everything that happened everyone needs a change, _Bailey thought, lowering her head. Placing her hands on her hips she focused not he power that was inside her because of Geneva and Gattaca still being with her. She thought that after what had happened with their mother, they would have left her. And yet, two of the guardians of the Element World were still around. _Don't question_ it _Bailey, it's just going to cause problems for you later._

Tapeworm gave her a funny look as he rounded the corner from the kitchen, carrying Ursa, in his small form, in his arms. The small bear was holding onto a couple of strawberries, shoving the last few pieces into his mouth, noisily licking his paw afterwards as he did so. "You do realize that it would really only take me about ten seconds to get there while you have no choice but to walk."

"Yes," Bailey agreed. She crossed her arms, her smile turning to a smug one. "But it'd be rude if you had me walk the streets of Boston alone, you never know what can happen." The two smirked at each other. As if a robber or anyone that tired to mug them would be difficult to get away from. Reaching up a hand, she clapped Tapeworm on the shoulder, leading him towards the door. "C'mon, let's go."

"Mom, Dad, we're headed to the park," Tapeworm called as the two slid out the front door. "We'll be back later." He paused, waiting to hear his mother's shout of, "OK, have fun," to come back, before the two slid out the door. The two walked down the front steps and headed in the direction of Liberty Park.

Bailey took in the sights of the reconstruction that was going on as she went. It had only been a couple of months but a lot of the city was already starting to go back to the way it was. No one was afraid to go outside; no one was looking over their shoulder as much as often. They barely blinked at the sound of a helicopter or airplane flying by overheard. The news was always talking about the relief effort in the city as well as news coming from the nation's capital about the existence of Elementals and what it means for those that may be awakening.

It was nice to see that they were doing so much to make things better for the Elementals, but at the same time, she didn't like the constant attention. She didn't like being known as 'Bailey Pickett' as opposed to being just Bailey. It was funny, when she had gotten on the SS Tipton for the first time her dream was to be able to see the world and make friends along the way. If she knew it included having her life threatened on numerous occasions, protecting the world, and making some of the most difficult decisions she ever had to face, she probably wouldn't have agreed to do it.

_They do say hindsight is 20/20, _Bailey reminded herself. _But what does that mean for those we had to lose along the way? They didn't expect any of that to happen, so why were we the ones that were able to survive the whole thing and others weren't? _With that thought, Bailey peeked at Tapeworm, who walked beside her with a slight swag to his step, as if everything around him wasn't going on. In a way it made sense, he had probably lost more than everyone else had in the past couple of years, and yet he was still able to continue to use his smarts to help everyone and keep a smile on his face. _Though there was a time there where he seemed really…dark. You have to admit that Bailey._

_'From what I've seen of you humans, that doesn't mean anything more than you just being in a bad place,' _Geneva reminded her, her voice swirling through Bailey's head.

_And there's more that he's seen when he was, in a dreamlike state, transported to the Element World,' _Gattaca agreed. _Being a human…more or less, and going there. It's more jarring than you'd expect. Our worlds are similar, but they're so different._

"You're right," Bailey murmured.

"What?" Tapeworm looked over at her, shifting Ursa from his arms up to his shoulder. Bailey blushed, lowering her gaze to her feet. She ignored the waves that construction workers sent her and Tapeworm as they passed the scaffolding the men were working on. The increase of attention she still wasn't used to or even particularly liked but it was part of her life now.

"Sorry," Bailey apologized. "I guess I was speaking out loud." She shook her head before lifting it up towards the sky. The clouds hung low over the sky. "I was talking to Geneva and Gattaca…how things have changed. How the Element World is different than here." Tapeworm slowly nodded, his eyes shifting away from the teenage girl. "Do you remember anything from being there?" She pressed gently. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable or angry or depressed in any way. He had been so good with the subject before, but grief worked in mysterious ways. Who knew what was going through his head as of late.

Tapeworm reached up and scratched the back of his head, gently sucking his bottom lip into his mouth as he thought. About what, Bailey wondered. The best way to talk about it without saying everything that he had seen with his own two eyes?

"There was a door of darkness, I remember that clearly," Tapeworm said. Instinctively, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets as he leaned forward, hunching his shoulders as he did so. It was an obvious way for him to find a comfortable position in an uncomfortable conversation. "There was also a strange voice that went along with the door to darkness and seemed to follow me around. It was haunting in a way and I never really understood why I was able to hear it. Next thing I know, I was transported to the Element World and it looked so different but felt like home. People around were so happy and they knew what they were doing. They had their own jobs that their powers dealt with. The ones that controlled fire were blacksmiths as they could easily forge things, the people that controlled water could control the weather around hem so that if it had been too long without a good rainfall they could deal with that. There were homes scattered around, a large castle in the distance, and everyone just seems so happy. It really feels like a community."

Tapeworm smiled a little. "Then I saw the nursery." He held up a finger. "And this is the part that I thought was weird, but so cool at the same time." Bailey nodded for him to continue, waiting in anticipation. "The nursery was a place that seemed like it was in a cave. The women who were pregnant and were about to give birth to their children would go and the nurses, or medicine women, or maybe they're mystics or something, would lie them down, give them some sort of concoction that would make take their mind off the pain, and the women would give birth. The baby would then be wrapped up and placed in a basinet and be watched over, just like us humans would be." He swallowed thickly. "I went there…and I say Canis."

Bailey's eyes widened.

"She was there. I know it was her, especially since we know that the guardians can reincarnate themselves if the humans die. But if the guardian dies…then they're gone forever. I looked into her bassinet and I recognized her as Canis, especially from her markings. Then I heard a specific drumming sound, like a rhythm that everyone reacted to. The women in the cave all moved towards the back wall, the babies were shifted over so they weren't in the cover of the cave and when I went outside, I saw a warrior. I think he was anyway, he had some armor on. He moved to block the entrance to the cave. The drums sounded again and everyone jumped into action. The men started to get fall into a sort of formation and that was only moments before all hell broke loose. The arboris started to attack and next thing I knew, I saw nothing but different element attacks being flung around everywhere to fend them off. I even saw Blazen's and Phantom's mother."

"Wow." It was the only thing Bailey could think of that would eloquently describe everything she felt when hearing Tapeworm's explanation. It just left so many questions. "Wait, so does that mean everyone in the Element world is an Elemental?"

"No," Tapeworm said without an ounce of hesitation. "There are normal humans there too. Just like there are normal animals." He glanced up at Ursa, who continued to hang off the side of his head, his tiny claws gently gripping his master's shorter hair. "So that's probably how it goes to the elemental down on Earth getting a guardian."

"But it still doesn't explain what makes it that there are Elementals that exist on Earth as well as those that are only in the Element world," Bailey said. "Like, what is it that dictates the worlds being two completely different things?"

"Maybe that's what the portal was," Tapeworm suggested. "When we were fighting Mother Nature. Maybe her portal was furthering the collapse of the Element World."

"Maybe it wasn't collapsing," Bailey shot back. "It might have been going back to its normal place."

Her sentence hung in the air as the two arrived at Liberty Park and turned, walking down the path. There were many possibilities that they hadn't thought of yet and coming up with more was just risking the chance for them to have more to work through .Even Christian's experiments as well as his knowledge on the Element World was something constantly being tested. That's why he had been so eager to travel through Canada and even taking a quick stop to DC to see what had changed and what was being done about the existence of Elementals.

_As a scientist himself, he must be curious about everything that's going on as well, _Bailey thought. Her thoughts were broken into by a loud cry of happiness moments before she spotted her friends, all scattered around, sitting underneath the largest tree in the park. The loud cry had been from Sydney as he was hurrying over to the two to greet them. Aaron was twisted to the side, pointing in their direction, possibly having heard them before they had even been spotted.

Bailey felt a small smile slide on her face as he saw all of her friends turning and waving at them as well. All of the friends she had met once everything on the SS Tipton had started. Everyone but Max. It was then that she had been struck with how much things had changed in those past few years. She had been the girl who believed in fairytales, the ones that always said 'never say never' whenever a difficult situation came upon her. She was the positive girl that would take everything that came to her and do her best with it as she wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

Unfortunately she found that optimism wasn't enough. Nothing was enough to stop the passage of time. The old, positive girl that she had been was gone, dead and gone. In her place was the girl who questioned the world and everything in it simply because she didn't know what was real and what was fake anymore. She didn't trust anyone around her, she couldn't. She could only trust her friends and even then that was hard, as they all had their own agendas when it came to the future of their powers and what it meant now that the whole world knew about them.

She could still remember standing on the rooftop of the Tipton hotel and looking right into the camera as the news copter flew by; taking in every image they could of the battle going on below. She still didn't know what to think about it. It wasn't the point of conversation and probably never would be.

"Hey!" Bailey wrapped her arms around the younger boy, giving him a tight hug before he moved onto Tapeworm and did the same. She was glad the years of this hadn't made him lose his personable personality. "Hey guys, how is everyone?" She and Tapeworm walked over to the group and sat down in the two spaces left over, in between Cody and Noah.

Bailey couldn't help but look at Cody, to see how he was, and his eyes met hers. She immediately turned away, smoothing her long skirt over her knees as she sat Indian style on the ground. Her knee bumped his and he moved it away from her. Bailey sighed.

"See, Cody, I told you," Zack said. He nudged Cody with his elbow and pointed at Bailey. "At some point everyone was going to be copying your hairstyle when you turned your hair red." He paused, glancing at Bailey once more, smiling warmly. "Though it looks a _lot _better on her."

"And of course that's just Zack's way of saying 'welcome back'," Noah said in his soft voice.

Bailey rolled her eyes before addressing the older blond. "We weren't the ones that left," she reminded him.

"That's right," Sydney agreed. "How's school going?"

"Fine." Bailey kept it at that. Beside her, she could feel Cody shifting in the grass, moving to sit in an Indian style position as well. But he had his chin resting in the palm of his hand. She knew how badly he had wanted to go to Yale as it was his life dream. But he had been the one to decide not to apply, he had said so himself before they had split for the summer. So why was he still taking it out on her? Or maybe he wasn't and she was just being paranoid. _It wouldn't be the first time, _Bailey thought. "It's fine. Kind of hard to go around with everyone knowing my name, though." She then addressed the Jacksons. "I don't know how you do it."

"You get used to it after a while," Rhuben remarked. She had her hands in her lap, running her fingers over DeathLiger's back as he laid curled up, eyes closed at the comforting touch. "Even with the people wanting nothing but your name on a sheet of paper."

"You make it sound so bad," Zack said. He stretched out his legs, resting his arms up behind his head, lacing his fingers together, resting against the tree trunk. "All the more reason to charge them for it. They're wasting your time; you should make some sort of profit off of it."

"Figures you'd see it that way," Patrick remarked with a half smile as she look over at his eldest sister. She merely lifted her left shoulder in a shrug then said, "He got me for his looks."

"I knew it!" Zack beamed.

"Yeah, I usually put high importance on physical attractiveness but I made an exception for you." She smiled wickedly at her boyfriend, who rolled his eyes, before turning her gaze to the rest of the group. "So I guess we all know why we're here. To catch up with everything after Mother Nature." She wrapped her arms around her legs. "While we were home we went back to Dad's office to see if there was anything else we could find out," she said mysteriously. She exchanged glances with her siblings. "And I think we got more than we bargained for."

"Same here," Crystal agreed. She turned behind her and picked up the computer that had been from her father, holding all of the information that he had gathered while he was still working with his late brother in law, Reed, and their friend Nathan Reeves. Or as the kids knew him, Core.

_I wonder what happened to him, _Bailey thought, suddenly struck with the notion that they hadn't seen him in a while.

'_I wouldn't worry about him, Child,' _Gattaca said.

_'You have more pressing matters to deal with,' _Geneva agreed.

"There was already a lot that we knew from what we've experienced and from what Dad has told me over the years," Crystal continued. She pulled open an excel spreadsheet on her computer and turned it around, pointing at a few rows and columns. "These are the names and contact information of those that were at the different symposiums and conferences we went to. Some of them are in the DC area; others are spread around the world. But they've brought a lot of insight into the things that have been going on."

"What does it mean for us now though?" Tapeworm's eyebrows furrowed together. "Has there been any progress with the way that Elementals are going to be treated?" He shrugged. "I mean, we're considered celebrities now, but what happens when the popularity goes away and they turn on us."

Cody stiffened. "You really think they would?" His voice was low, almost in a dangerous tone.

"It's been known to happen," Tapeworm replied.

"Yeah, I think that's what they call assassinations," Sydney added with a sarcastic edge to his tone. "Some of which you may be aware of such as JFK and Arch Duke Ferdinand." He held up a finger. "Wars have come out of lesser things."

"Thanks for that depressing anecdote, Little Man," Noah murmured.

Bailey giggled, holding her hand up over her mouth. She pushed her long hair over her shoulder once more, starting to dig her finger in the ground. What would be different? She thought she would be spared, in fact, if things did go south. She had no powers, she wasn't an Elemental .She just had two of the guardians of the world inside her. She couldn't control them or the power they had, she was just harboring them. It was a selfish thought, really. That she would be spared if something happened to the others. They had all worked so well together, so how did that suddenly pop into her head?

"He's got a point though," Rhuben defended him.

There was another brief moment of silence.

"Zack and I have some news," Cody said slowly. It sounded like he still didn't believe what he was about to say. Bailey had been with him long enough to know that he was anxious. Just by looking she could tell; his eyes were blinking rapidly and he was tearing handfuls of grass from the ground, tossing it aside. Apart from a long list of his many allergies and medications, Cody showed his anxiety in his face and the fluttering lashes was always the first sign of his distress. The other being that Cody was someone that cared about the environment, the ecosystem, and everything scientific about it. So she knew that he was violating a lot of his ideals, especially since he was technically killing the grass. "And it's really strange; even I can't wrap my head around it."

"Don't worry about it, mate," Patrick reassured him with a lazy wave of his hand. "I can't wrap my head around a lot of stuff either."

"And that explains so much," Noah commented.

Cody gave a half smile. He lifted his head, locking eyes with Zack, who nodded. Cody continued, "We were going down to the lobby to meet you all here…and then we saw Mr. Moseby and London."

"They finally made it back?" Crystal's eyebrows rose. Relief washed over her and her shoulders slumped as a peaceful smile slid onto her face. It was the most serene she had been in a while. "That's good news. I hadn't heard anything about the SS Tipton in a while; no matter what I searched, nothing came up."

"That's not the strange part," Zack interrupted. "Mr. Moseby and London were as crazy as they always were." He tilted his head to the side, looking concerned. His eyebrows were lowered and along with his tightened mouth, Bailey knew something was really wrong. "It was as if no time had passed since they were gone. London was complaining about Maddie being in her first year of college and Mr. Moseby was talking about how he didn't want to have to spend more years with us on the ship."

"You have to admit that London has never been the brightest bulb in the lamp," Aaron pointed out. He paused. "But compared to Patrick that's saying something."

"Hey!"

Bailey laughed along with the others. "And I've seen Mr. Moseby counting down the days of when you'd finally graduate so why is this any different?"

"You don't get it," Cody said quickly, barely letting Bailey able to finish her sentence. "It's, like, with the two of them, time hasn't passed at all. For them they just finished their first year not he boat and we've graduated from high school already." Cody tugged at the ends of his long hair. "Like time completely stopped."

"Well, I wouldn't say it's completely unfounded," Noah said. He had stretched out and was lying on his side, resting his cheek on his upraised hand. "With the Element World being, in a way, a different dimension, how does that stop anyone from knowing that there are others out there we don't know of? Maybe the SS Tipton got stuck in a time warp."

"Or maybe it's something else," Sydney said quietly.

Rhuben started to say something then stopped, her eyelids lowering, eyes rapidly moving back and forth. DeathLiger jumped out of her lap and started to growl, turning into his large form. Reihu, who had been resting up on a branch of the tree, listening, growled as well, leaping out of the tree and turning into a lion as well. The other guardians appeared, turning into their beast forms and joining DeathLiger and Reihu, all glaring in the direction behind them.

Bailey scrambled to her feet and turned in the direction that the guardians were facing, eyes moving all over the place for movement. She couldn't see anything. "What are you—"

"Look out!" Patrick shouted.

He, Noah, Zack, and Cody all sprouted wings from their backs and blasted high into the air, Rhuben whirled around and reached out, diving towards the tree. Once she reached the shadow she disappeared into the ground. Sydney summoned his staff and pushed Aaron on top of it before climbing on himself and taking off up into the air as well. Riley and Crystal jumped onto the backs of their guardians, pulling Tapeworm and Bailey on as well, and DalFang and Dricer beat their large wings down lifting the wolf and tiger up into the air.

Bailey held tightly onto DalFang's fur as they rose up to the height the boys were. A fall from that distance from the ground would be pretty nasty, Elemental or not. Below her, Bailey watched as something black rocketed into the tree they had just been lying against and blew up the tree. Holding her breath, Bailey watched as the smoke cleared then breathed a sigh of relief when Rhuben came out from the ground, unharmed. She climbed onto DeathLiger's back and was soon with them as well.

"Did you get a good look?" Zack asked her.

Rhuben shook her head. "No, but it looked like canon fire to me."

"That was no canon, Sis," Sydney contradicted her. "It was a smoke bomb."

Bailey turned back to Zack and Cody. Cody's wings gently brushed up and down as his eyes narrowed. He cocked his head to the side and stared hard in front of him. They others knew from his enhanced abilities of having a guardian that was an eagle, his eye sight was increased as well. It gave him the ability to see up to a mile ahead of him if he tried, and from where she was sitting, Bailey could see that his eyes had changed from that of a human's to that of a bird of prey. It was strange yet fascinating at the same time.

"Oh God," he breathed, eyes returning to normal. "We've got trouble. I don't know who it is exactly, but I'm sure not everyone in the world is glad to know we're here."

"What does that mean?" Riley snapped impatiently. Her hands were glowing red and Bailey could see flames started to encircle them, little licks of the fire flickered here and there, strengthening as the seconds passed.

"It means our vacation's over," Zack replied, his eyes glowing red as well. His lips slowly curled up in a menacing smile.

* * *

**A/N: **Marvel movies have increased my motivation for this story, though most of them do. As I said last time things really pick up and they were really fast-paced here. I bet you didn't expect them to get attacked so quickly/so early in the story, but I had to keep your attention somehow. I can't wait for the next chapter because I haven't written a fighting scene in a while.

Cheers,

-Riles


	6. Time Stop

CHAPTER FIVE

* * *

Zack looked over at Cody and the twin boys glanced at Patrick and Noah as well before they wet blasting forward, their powerful wings increasing their speed as the seconds passed. Zack was always aware of the different air currents at different heights, and while he would periodically shift up and down to keep on the different air tracks he became aware of a blast of wind in their faces, slowing them down.

"What is that?" Noah called, his quieter vice almost lost over the wind. Zack knew he had to practically bellow to be heard; whatever was ahead of them must have been big.

"No idea," Zack called back. His hands started to glow red seconds before becoming engulfed in flames. "Don't let your guard down, though. It could be anything." As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Cody pushed him out of the way as a black ball came rocketing between them. Cody spun around and shot a rush of hard water at the ball, causing it to implode in mid-air. "Another smoke bomb?"

"That's not smoke man," Patrick said. He shook his head before moving his hands over his mouth. "That's actual smoke; I can smell the carcinogens in it as well. It's an actual bomb." His eyes shifted for a moment before he gave a jovial smile, which was inappropriate for the situation. "These guys are finally stepping up and trying to blow us out of the air. I'm impressed."

"Don't be," Zack said firmly.

Part of him wanted to laugh and smile as well. Not only did it actually feel good to be back to fighting; as much as he liked being able to have time off, he liked the hand to hand combat as well as the feeling of knowing how strong he was. Alternatively, it was interesting; in a way to know that whoever was really trying to get rid of them was starting to think about different ways to really defeat them. He couldn't stop the millions of thoughts that ran through his head, many of them having to be with who could be after them this time? The Elemental beings appeared to be gone and everyone else around the city, if not the world, appeared to worship them in some way. He had seen early on, however, that as many people loved you, there were going to be come that hated you.

_And Mom said spending so much time watching Wrestling was going to be bad for me, _Zack thought with a slight smirk. He, Cody, Patrick, and Noah continued flying until he felt a distinct change in the air around them. Coming to a quick stop, Patrick almost crashed into him and had to fly directly upwards to avoid a collision.

_/What is it, Zack? / _Blazen asked.

/_You don't feel that? / _Zack replied, his eyes slowly shifting back and forth. He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "Whatever it is, it must be pretty far, if you couldn't see it back there. We must have been going for over a mile by now." He flicked his hair out of his face. "I can't even see anything."

Cody raised a hand and rubbed his chin. "Maybe it's just—"He was cut off by one of the bomb hitting him in the stomach.

Zack immediately turned away as a burst of fire rushed towards him. He could deal with the extreme heat, something he enjoyed about having his fire powers being that he could even handle things right out of the oven or even lie on the burning asphalt without a shirt without being burned. However it didn't come without some sort of consequence, if he got too warm it would eventually become dangerous to his health as he learned once, running around with almost a 104 degree fever and not feeling any different. The other being that if he got too much sun he became sluggish and lazy.

It didn't mean he couldn't absorb it either. After shielding his face, Zack turned back around and held out his hands, taking in the fire that exploded around Cody. "Cody, are you ok?" He called.

The dust cleared and Cody lowered his arms, dropping the large bubble of water that had covered him. "I'm good," he replied.

"Head's up!" Noah's voice caught their attention. He held out his hand. "Thorned Affection!" His weapon, a large hammer, appeared in his hands. He pulled his arms back, as if he was holding a baseball bat, and with a cry of effort, he swung it forward and blasted another bomb back towards the direction it came.

Patrick floated back down from above the three. "Guys! There are a _bunch _of helicopters heading this way. And by a bunch; I mean there are a _lot_!" He started to fly backwards, his large, leathery dragon wings encompassing around him. "We're going to need the others' help."

"Let's go!" Zack agreed. The four boys flew back towards their friends, who were still waiting for them. They all landed on the ground, waiting for whatever it was that Zack had to say. "There are a lot of helicopters headed this way and there are some guys in there with smoke bombs and regular bombs."

"So whoever they are, they really want to get rid of us," Crystal said. She bobbed her head back and forth. "What else is new?"

"My thoughts exactly," Rhuben agreed. Her hands started to glow a dark mixture of purple and black.

"Don't hold back guys, whoever this is, whatever they're working with, they're going to do their best to see that we're destroyed." He slowly smiled. "Let's give them a run for their money." The sound of the rotary blades caught his attention once more and he and his friends turned and watched as the copters came over the horizon and flew towards them. There were about twenty of them, each carrying three people, and one being the pilot, the others hanging out the sides.

One, Zack could see, was carrying what looked like a rocket launcher and as far as he was concerned, that's what it was. He turned his head and looked over at Riley, who had moved up to his side. "Flamethrower!" The two cried and thrust their arms forward, sending a stream of fire up towards the leading copter. Riley's flames that held a dark, almost black, tinge around the edge combined with Zack's, which held a lighter color around the edges, forming one stream that engulfed the copter. The burning vehicle crashed to the ground in front of them, the rotary blades having melted and snapped off.

Zack grimaced and looked away from a burning body that had been ejected once the helicopter hit the ground. He hoped at that point he had become desensitized to the whole thing, especially having been shot at and held captive so many times over the years. Nothing was worse than having an innocent life taken, but these were people that willingly risked their lives to entrap them.

"Thunder blast!" Patrick rubbed his hands together; creating friction then shot a bolt of electricity up into the sky. The clouds darkened and large bolts of lightning shot back towards the ground, striking the helicopters and forcing them to the ground as well. "Now we got an even playing field." He cracked his knuckles before charging forward as the men climbed out of the helicopters, weapons drawn. Noah smirked and spun in a quick circle, bringing his arms to his chest then back out, sending a gust of wind filled with bolts of energy forward, cutting through some of the men as well as the helicopter.

"Earth Spirits!" Sydney called, thrusting a hand up into the air. His glowing hand turned from a light blue color to a brown-green. Bringing both hands up, the ground reacted, creating two slabs of condensed dirt out of the ground. Sydney clapped his hands together and the two slabs rocketed into each other, crushing one of the men in between them.

"Rock cracking!" Tapeworm placed his hands on the ground as well and lifted his arms over his head, arms quaking with effort. The ground slowly started to open, and a large boulder came out from underneath the ground. He swung his arms down and the rock flew a few feet before crashing into a helicopter and rolling backwards, knocking a few men out of the way until it came to a stop. Tapeworm then ran forward and brought his arm up, knocking a gun out of a guy's hand. He grabbed onto the man's neck and drove his knee into his gut, knocking him to the ground.

Crystal ran forward and rolled over the back of one man, striking out her foot and catching the other in the face. She created and ice spear in her hand and heaved it at another one that came up on her left. It embedded itself into her shoulder and she created a few more, throwing them at him as well. A few missed but some continued to embed themselves into his arms. She gritted her teeth when he continued to converge upon her. Hands grabbed her arms and forced them behind her back. "Let go!" She wiggled back and forth, struggling to knock the man that held her off. She lowered her head, squeezing her eyes shut, focusing hard. /_Dricer, I need your help_/. She looked up as the man pulled the icicle out of his shoulder and continued towards her, gun drawn.

"Any other sudden movements and you'll regret it."

Crystal smirked, her entire body glowing a bright blue. Dricer, the white tiger, suddenly appeared by her side and roared loudly before bringing up a paw, claws sheathed, and batting the man on the side of the head. The blow knocked him straight to the ground, gurgling as he fell heavily onto his side. Dricer then turned back around, his tail smacking the one that held his mistress and knocked him over. Crystal stumbled forward once her arms were free. "Nice timing." She gave him a quick hug around the neck before swinging up onto his back. Reihu soared overhead, landing on a man and diging his teeth into his neck before turning and pouncing on another one.

Rhuben ducked under a flying fist then shot out her foot, kicking a gun out of her face. "Darkness atom bomb!" She brought her arm back then threw it forward, as if throwing a baseball and launched four balls of energy towards oncoming men that headed towards her. Two crashed into the ground, sending a shower of dirt everywhere. The other two landed on the heads of two men, causing them to scream in pain and fear, bringing their hands up to their heads and falling to their knees. Their screams increased as Rhuben slowly clenched her hands into fists. He waited a few moments then opened her hands, allowing the two men to fall to the ground. She stood over them, looking down into their thousand yard stare.

They weren't going to recover from it.

Bailey, having two different being to use the powers from, tapped into Geneva's power and shot beams of white light towards the men whenever they came her way. Each time it would strike something, even one of the men; it would burn a hole through the object. She tried to keep down the wave of nausea that filled her each time she heard a shriek of pain or a scram cut off by her own hand or from around her. Unlike the others she still hadn't become used to her capture becoming a daily occurrence, she wasn't used to having to see so many people die just or become hurt just to stay free. Nevertheless, Bailey continued to fire off the beams whenever someone would come close to grabbing her.

Zack moved as if he was on autopilot, streaming flashes of fire left and right, melting guns whenever he got the chance. Otherwise, close hand to hand combat was the way he preferred to go. It was a way for him, for a moment, to try and get an idea of the one he was attacking. He would away get a good look at the other person's eyes; were they malicious, tired, or holding a sense of fear? More often than not, as he had found from the last battle with Mother Nature, those that were sent in by the SWAT team, the army, or any faction like that, had been young men who were being thrust out into, most likely, their first time going out on the field. He felt bad for those that ended up having to face them, suddenly sucked into a world they never knew existed or had seen before. He usually went easy on them, a broken arm or leg, just so they would be able to live on and hopefully get away from it all.

"Cascade Crush!"

A wave of hard water flew from Zack's right and smacked into a man that was converging on Zack's left. Zack whipped his heard around to see Cody land to the ground by his side, his wings sliding back into his shoulders blades. Cody reached out and nudged his brother in the ribs. "You owe me."

"I owe you a lot," Zack replied. "But not as much as you owe me." To punctuate his point, he turned and thrust out his hand, throwing a ball of fire up into the air. It came back down and landed on the head of a man coming up behind Cody, immediately igniting his entire body. "Case in point."

Zack was suddenly hit on the back of the head, his vision exploding in stars. He rolled onto his back and brought his hands up to shield his face, but stopped when a gun was pointed at him. The man that stood above him glared chest heaving up and down. There was a trail of blood coming down the side of his head. Zack moved his eyes upwards, trying to find Cody, but couldn't see him. All around him he could still hear his friends fighting that gave him a little bit of hope.

"Try it and I'll have a bullet in your brain faster than you can think," the man warned, noticing Zack move to clench his hands.

Zack lay still, allowing the harsh words to settle into his brain. He was stronger than most people, nearly invincible to anything that could come his way. It annoyed him a bit, to think that his life was going to end just by one single bullet. He had broken arms, legs, and bruises, cuts and scars. He had been tortured and held captive, starved for as long as he could remember, having to run from whoever was chasing him, lost his parents because they found out about his powers. And it was all going to end because of a simple bullet. _Talk about ironic, _he thought. _My obsession with drawing guns and stuff for years and it's going to be what kills me._

"Hasn't your mother ever told you not to play with guns?" Zack finally managed to rasp out.

The man smiled the corner of his mouth lifting. Zack was vaguely aware of this finger slightly adding pressure to the trigger. A gun shot rang out and a lightning bolt rushed by Zack and the man so closely that Zack could feel the intense heat coming from it. Seeing that the man had frozen, though the gun was still pointed directly at him, Zack slowly tilted his head back to see Aaron standing up, holding onto a small pistol with both hands. His eyes were trained in his direction so intently Zack was sure that he had suddenly managed to regain his eye sight. Aaron squeezed the trigger once more, but this time a bright beam of light coming out, blinding the man. Zack leaned back on his hand and flipped to his feet, kicking the man between the legs before striking him in the face with a hard drive of his elbow.

The man crumpled to his knees, one hand holding onto his groin. However, it was as if he hadn't noticed his hit to the face as he started to bring the gun back around. Zack leaned back on his right foot, ready to hit the man in the face, and then froze when there was another gun shot. This time, instead of there being a element related bullet flying out of the gun, blood erupted on the front of the man's face and he fell back to the ground.

Zack lowered his foot and whirled around to find a familiar figure walking up to them, holding up an ak-47 as he did so. Zack nodded and gave him a grim smile. "Diamond," he said in greeting.

Diamond nodded back, training his gun on the man.

Zack took a deep breath and looked around. Riley grabbed a man's arm and bent it back far enough until she heard a crack and the man fell to his knees with a scream. She then brought her knee up at the same time she grabbed the back of his shirt and drove his forehead into her knee. The force of the blow as well as the speed she exhibited broke the man's neck. She lifted him up and threw him a few feet away from her before wiping a hand across her forehead, smearing blood as she did so.

"Is everyone OK?" Diamond called, lowering his gun. Now that the danger had passed there was no need for it anymore.

Zack looked back around and let out a sigh of relief when he saw that his friends were OK, walking back to him. Some of them had blood on them, otherwise they all appeared OK. Everyone gathered back around and Zack turned to Diamond, holding out his hand. Diamond took it and shook it firmly before doing the same to Cody. "Perfect timing, didn't think that you'd make it in time," Zack remarked.

Diamond shrugged, reaching up to rub his beard. "I told you before I always had my eyes on you." He lifted the strap of his gun then replaced it, in almost a nonchalant manner. "And I always keep my promises, especially when I'm indebted to someone."

"So what was that?" Bailey asked, bringing her hair back in a ponytail. "I know people want to see what we're up to, but that was different."

"No shit," Riley agreed under her breath, continuing to rub at the blood on her forehead. "I don't think WingzCorp even attacked us that hard before." She lowered her hand, blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Of course we knew we didn't have complete clearance from the government or anything—"

"Those are from the government, yes," Diamond interrupted. "But not from any faction I'm familiar with." He walked over to wreckage, where the flames had died down and studied the insignia on the side. He tilted his head to the side. "Might be something new." He then rolled his head back towards the group of teenagers. "Would have been nice to get someone to talk to before you shot them out of the sky."

Patrick raised an eyebrow, placing his hands on his chest. "Excuse me; mate, for thinking it was better to keep my life."

"For once you actually think logically," Noah remarked, then rested his arm on his brother's shoulder. Patrick didn't react to the remark other than a quick roll of his eyes.

Diamond turned back to Aaron, who had his arms at his sides, loosely holding onto the gun. The older man held out his hand and Aaron finally shifted in his direction, placing it in his palm. Diamond looked it over for a few minutes. Sydney took a step forward and spoke up, "I designed it using the energies from each of our powers, having researched them for a while. And with the energy I managed to acquire using machines capable of detecting nano particles and atoms I—"

"Condensed the power of the element to a solid structure so that it is now able to be made into a bullet," Diamond continued. He nodded over at the young boy. "That's genius."

"Aaron helped," Sydney added and the blonde boy gave a slight smile.

"Do you have idea of what's going on?" Cody asked, changing the subject. He glanced around at het carnage that lay by them. "Normally we have some sort of idea as to why we're being attacked, but this time it came out of nowhere."

"Not that we're entirely surprised at this point," Tapeworm agreed.

Diamond nodded. "We have reason to believe that one of the nation's best kept secrets has been realized and they need you all to power it," he said. He pulled a walkie-talkie off of his belt and spoke into it rapidly. Neither Zack nor the others were able to tell what had been said. "C'mon. We need to get out of here before the city's officials try to talk to you. Even with the things they know about Elementals now, it'll take longer than ever to get the paperwork done."

A smile wormed its way onto Zack's face and he and his friends started to follow Diamond out of Liberty Park. Zack looked up at the sky as the sun came back out from behind a cloud, the light coming out as the dark battle had ended._ How symbolic. _He rolled his eyes, suddenly reminded of all of the English classes he had tried to sleep through. _What I wouldn't give to be back there, not worrying about this all the time…not wondering when it will finally end. _Zack lowered his gaze from the sky and scanned the front of the park that had been untouched.

As they neared the entrance he looked at the people that walked by and then did a double take before stopping completely. Had he really seen what he thought he just saw?

"What?" Cody and Bailey flanked his sides. Bailey glanced at him in concern and Cody followed his gaze, trying to see what it was that caused his brother so much distress. "What is it?"

"Zack, are you OK?" Bailey placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. Out of the corner of his eye, Zack could see Cody watch the movement his frown deepening.

"Cody." Zack turned to his brother, his eyes searching his. Cody looked back at him, eyes narrowing slightly, waiting patiently for Zack to continue. Behind his twin brother, Zack could see Diamond continuing to walk away, knowing that the three would catch up when the time was needed. "I…I think I just saw Mom and Dad."

* * *

Christian took the walkie-talkie back in his drawer and rested his hands in his lap. How could this have happened? How could they have continued to work on those plans when they had been chasing after the kids, after everything that happened in the State House. He should have known it wouldn't be completely forgotten. He let his guard down and now it he was paying the price for it.

_Fuck!_

Christian lowered his forehead to his desk top, taking in a couple of breaths. Once he regained his composure, he lifted his head once more and reached out, picking up a picture frame that had been put facedown and stared at the picture. His eyes moved over the figures in the photograph, causing him to smile at his former self at twenty-two years old, his arms around his best friends, Reed Jackson and Nathan Reeves, as well as Ruriko—who at that time had started to go by Renee—and Kristen standing at the ends. Things had been so much easier back then, where they were shut in their own laboratories, doing whatever research they had been studying at the time.

Who knew it would have all blown up in their faces, leaving him as the last one to survive it all?

Christian replaced the photograph and turned away, going back to his computer. He sucked in a deep breath and licked his lips before moving his fingers at warp speed, traversing deep into the internet as quickly as he could. If he stopped at any moment, he could get caught, taken away, and questioned. After Core's disappearance, he knew Zack, Cody, and the others wouldn't be able to go on. He couldn't be tortured again, he would never give up the information he knew, but if he was held captive like that again…

Christian leaned forward into his computer screen as he came to a locked screen. Gritting his teeth for a moment he leaned to the side and looked at the scarp piece of paper resting beside his computer and fed the complicated code into the computer.

"Yes…"

The whisper that escapes his lips nearly startled him as the room was otherwise silent. Files opened up on the computer screen and he quickly found the one he wanted. As soon as it opened, different scientific journals popped up in his face' top secret videos and documents. As each one passed by and opened for him, he could tell they were all about the same thing. What he and his colleagues had wondered was truly possible. It was the same thing he had been researching around the time his wife and brother and sister in law had been murdered in cold blood.

Time Stop.

* * *

**A/N: **Whoo! Fight scenes! Even though this chapter was from Zack's POV I always preferred to write the fight scenes jump between characters in an abrupt way rather than have scene breaks of smooth transitions. I always found it easier to read. If you don't remember Diamond, he was introduced not he last story as one of the men that was trying to capture Zack, Cody, and the others.

This story is going to have more romance in it, especially considering what they all have gone through has affected them throughout the last few stories. I wanted to really focus on the fights and trying to answer questions. I'm going to try balance it in this story because it's not only psychological, physical, mental, and emotional things they have to go through as their personal relationships are affected as well, as you have seen in recent chapters.

Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter and I'll update soon. I might even have _Help Me, Save Me _and _Intuition _uploaded soon as I don't want there to be a really long gap between when those start and when _Save Me From Myself _had ended.

Cheers,

-Riles


	7. A Look Into The Past I

CHAPTER SIX

* * *

"Dammit!"

Nathan slapped his hands against the desk, his grey eyes moving around the empty office. He should have known something like this was going to happen .They should have moved sooner. But how soon could they have moved? After they had gotten the news that Professor Trethaway was ill and would be out for a few days, thus giving their classes a substitute teacher, Nathan, Reed, Christian, Ruriko, and Kristin knew it was the perfect timing to go into his office and see if there was anything he knew about Elementals.

And when Nathan arrived, as he was the only one that had the time to go look, he came up on the office. The completely cleared out office. No books on the shelves, no papers festooned on the desk, no computer, no binders, no family pictures, nothing that would distinguish his office from any others. It was wide open, as if waiting for someone to occupy that space and make some sort of mark on their own on the university.

Nathan flopped down onto the floor, further exacerbating the fact that he had taken everything as there was nothing to sit on, and slapped his hands against the floor, furiously biting down on his bottom lip so that it started to bleed. "Dammit!" He cried again. Now proving that his being an elemental was gone, along with everything in the office. What were they going to do now?"

"Hey, we got your message," Christian said as he, Reed, Ruriko, and Kirstin entered the room. He stopped short, looking around. "Whoa."

"He turned tail and ran," Reed noted. He shook his head, brown fringe flying over his face, falling into his blue eyes. "Should have seen it coming." He slapped a fist into an open palm. "He must have known we were close to figuring everything out."

"He was the one that had called you out on studying Elementals for a paper, right?" Kristin pointed out. She raised a hand, placing her finger on her chin. When she spoke next, there was a hint of sarcasm in her tone. "Shocker that he thought you were after him."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence," Nathan replied. He pulled himself off the floor, leaning against the desk behind him. He crossed his arms, starting to tap his fingernails. "Maybe we could get into his computer, even if he tried to clean his hardware, I can easily possess the fragments and restore them to the documents we need."

"Where are you going to get his computer?" Christian reminded him.

"The campus internet server," Ruriko spoke up, raising an eyebrow. All eyes turned to her. "Even if his computer was taken, he had to use the school's server to be able to access his school work as well as to post the course outlines and projects that were needed." She shrugged. "He probably uses the same sort of portal that we need to post our homework."

Nathan chewed his lip again, wincing when it sent a stinging pain to his brain. He was going to have to find a new nervous habit. Lifting his fingers to his lips he wiped away the blood and stared at it for a long time. It was reminded him of the night he was attacked. The exhibition of power had shocked him more than he thought it would. He had been studying Elementals and reincarnation for a while, being shocked was something he hadn't anticipated. Even the videos he had managed to secure from hidden government profiles that he had fist stumbled upon, showcasing the different sort of abilities and imperviousness the Elementals had to everyday things that would cripple a man hadn't astounded him.

Seeing it up close, in the flesh, enough to render him with scars was an entirely different matter.

"This is, of course, if you would rather change our flight to Japan," Kristin added.

Nathan slowly nodded. They were going to speak to the girls' grandfather, as he was an open Elemental. He hadn't shied away from his powers and wasn't afraid of showing them to his family. There was a good chance he had some insight into what was going on with Trethaway and Elemental research in general. He could be a good help.

"No," he finally said. "We'll still go. We just need to be sure we have all of our information straight before we talk to your grandfather."

"Shouldn't be a problem, Core," Christian agreed, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets.

That part wasn't going to be a problem. The flight to Japan wasn't going to be a problem. It was the answers to their questions that were the problem.

He hoped they were ready for them.

* * *

**A/N: **This is a direct continuation of the 'look into the past chapters' from _Out of Doubt _like they had been in _Mystic Melody_. I knew it had to be brought back up at some point and considering the ending of the last chapter it felt like a good place to put it.

Plus they have an even bigger part in this story so it'll give me a chance to re-work some things that I had done with them in the last stories as well as work on their personalities and flesh out their characters a bit more.

I hope you guys liked it.

Cheers,

-Riles


	8. The darkness isn't a thing, it's alive

CHAPTER SEVEN

* * *

Cody settled onto the couch in Christian Manning's basement and did his best not to get to drawn down into his thoughts. Zack saw his mother and father? The last time they were around, they were evacuating from the city before everything went to shit. Right. That's why they left. Cody couldn't lie to himself without cringing, knowing the real reason they had gone away. It was because they had been too scared of their sons, then finding out they had been some of the people that had been drawing the danger towards the city. One look at their guardians and the twins were basically disowned, considered freaks, and were abandoned in the city without a word of goodbye. At the time it was all Cody needed, that one last hug or kiss, just to let them know that they were still a family.

Who could be a family with someone that was that much trouble?

It was like a murderer or someone who went to jail. How far would someone have to go before you gave up on them and didn't want to have anything to do with them? There was a fine line between what was right for you and what was right for someone else and at some point that line had to be crossed or stood behind.

"There's a lot of stuff we need to explain to them," Diamond said to Christian once everyone was gathered around in the basement. He took off his gun holsters and placed them on the table next to him. Each time he would place the gun down it would make a loud clacking sound against the metal, a great reminder of the weight it carried. Literally and figuratively. "Not that there's much we understand ourselves, but from what we know now…"

"I get it, Diamond, don't worry," Christian replied, holding up a hand. He took a deep breath, pushing himself back away from the computer. He ran his hands over his face, resting his hand on his stubble covered chin, looking even more anxious than Cody had ever seen before. It was a testament to all of the work he had been doing with Elementals for basically all his life and Cody wondered if he had ever actually been thanked for it.

Before he spoke, the door to the basement opened and there was a gust of wind as Julius Jackson and Maddie Fitzpatrick appeared in the basement as well, brushing down the disheveled clothes that had been knocked loose by their zipping to the house. In normal circumstances Julius would have been crushed under flying bodies of his siblings and cousins as they would give him a hug. This time, they sat still as their brother and his girlfriend situated themselves amongst the teenagers on the ground, in chairs, and on couches.

There would be plenty time to greet each other later.

"OK, now everyone's here," Zack said with an air of impatience. "And my first question is how do you know Diamond?"

"He was the one that had gotten me out of the State House during the last battle with Mother Nature," Christian explained patiently. "While you guys were out trying to free yourselves and close the portal form the arboris, I was being used as a confidant for those that had captured you." He scratched the side of his head. "Personally, I think they did a terrible job. But it was something they had to do."

Diamond spoke up. "We knew you weren't going to come in willingly, especially considering how we had to take you by force." He watched the group of teenagers with his calculated eyes. Cody realized his words were calculated as well and realized it was how he had always spoken. It was the way he had been trained. Who knew how long he had been trained to become that way? To shed his former self and leave that behind. Diamond didn't appear to be old, somewhere between 20 and thirty, the exact number escaped him, but the time he had been trained must have done something to him that damaged his former self.

Just like everything for the past four years had done to him and his brother. Not that it was a competition, if so, he would, in a roundabout way, have been a winner. If suffering was the grand prize, he was nowhere close to winning.

"Are you not exactly telling us that the government had been following us, videotaping us, and took us away because they _wanted _our help?" Bailey's eyebrows rose.

"If that's the case, that's fucking ridiculous," Riley said, her right eyebrow rising in a look of disbelief. Then her face darkened as she leaned forward, holdings her hands between her legs. Her hands were clenched into tight fists. "They've been nothing but _dickwads_, chasing us down and having to live a life of fear and secret because every time something like this happens, they try to cover it up." She waved a hand over at her Uncle. "Case in point, everything they've ever fucking found while in college."

"I know it's hard to believe," Christian finally said. "But it's true." He pushed his chair back and stood up to face the teenagers. He ran his hands over his face again and then started to speak. "Everything that we had ever found, while we were in college, or everything after, shows that the government was actually using us...or _you _rather, to help them. As a sort of social security in a way. However, the means they went to accomplish this wasn't always the best way."

"You got that right," Patrick muttered.

"There had been many elementals that had to be sacrificed so that we could really see what was going on, and your parents,"—he motioned to the Jacksons—"your mother and I, had been some of the ones recruited to help."

"And that's why Dad was a rocket scientist," Rhuben commented with a nod.

"Yes." Christian nodded back. "However he was always very smart and annoyingly so." He gave a hint of a smile, causing the siblings to turn to their youngest brother, whose dimples appeared in his cheeks as he smiled. He definitely took after his father. Christian continued, "having that opportunity was something he couldn't pass up, especially considering that the women we were seeing at the time had elemental lineage in their family due in part, that we only knew of, of their grandfather or your great-grandfather."

"But what does that mean for the rest of us?" Tapeworm crossed his legs at the knee. His arms were stretched across the back of the couch, his hands twitching, fingers rapidly tapping the couch, the coarse fabric scratched against his skin as he did so. "There's so much that we don't know…what about our parents?"

"Your parents had never been directly in contact with it, which is one of the reasons why this group right here, had awakened," Christian explained.

Zack made a noise of disagreement. "I thought you awakened because of being in immediate danger." He looked down at his hands and Cody recognized the pensive expression on his face. The look of intense concentration. It was what he always had whenever he was actually trying to do his homework. Confusion and frustration. "I remember seeing the fire and seeing Blazen when I was fighting Koto for the first time…"

"While that may be the case, you awakened because Riley awakened you," Christian explained then turned to Cody, whose eyebrows rose. "Just like you awakened because Rhuben awakened you. You saw your element and your guardian; you could have passed it off as a hallucination or a dream, as many people have done before when they had the ability to awaken. However, they had never taken the opportunity. You saw it and you didn't shy away from it, then when Koto and Reihu beat you guys for the first time, they were the ones that had seen your potential at the time and awakened you guys. Otherwise, if there is a traumatic event or you're in danger, you can awaken as well."

"Which is what happened to Crys and them," Aaron added. He seemed to have understood it completely. Cody had always wondered about him. He seemed to have some abilities of his own, though it was never confirmed what it was.

"Then what about Max and Tapeworm?" Cody asked. "Did Zack and I awaken them?"

"Yes."

"Then why isn't Bailey an elemental?"

"For the same reason you are, she was destined not to."

"But you've said that one in every five people are an elemental and with the group as large as we have, the chances of her being one are great as well."

Christian appeared irritated with Cody's contradictions. "That's something no one can explain." There was a slight growl to his tone. "None of us have ever been to the Element World so we can't understand why Geneva, Gattaca, and Mother Nature have all seemed gravitated to her."

Cody fell silent, nodding. He hadn't meant to annoy the older man. He respected the scientist as much as he had respected any of his teachers or figures of authority. He was just so tired of not having answers to the questions he had been asking since he was fourteen. _Not knowing is what's going to kill us._

"Cody, relax," Noah said. He was sitting on Noah's other side, quiet as ever; pensive as he took in all of the information he was given.

"I'm sorry," Cody burst out. "But how relaxed can anyone be when everything that once made sense is now making you feel like you've seen a ghost?"

At Christian's and Diamond's confused expressions, Rhuben spoke up. "Zack and Cody saw London and Moseby at the Tipton…but they way they were talking was like nothing had happened with the SS Tipton."

"And I haven't been able to find anything with the SS Tipton since we left," Crystal added. She ran her hand through her black/blue streaked hair, eyes troubled. "And I've been searching everything and can't find one instance anywhere."

"Of course not," Christian replied. "We had to hide it." If his daughter was perturbed at her father's conspiration against her, she didn't let it show. Instead, she nodded as if it had all made sense. "Everything with the SS Tipton had to be hidden in case ones that witnessed you guys looked to see what happened."

"Typical government practice," Patrick remarked.

"It had to be done," Julius finally spoke up. His arms were encircling the knees brought up to his chest. Being the eldest of all of the elementals, Cody had initially thought he would have taken up the leadership role that had been entrusted upon Zack. But the group then quickly realized that as Julius was able to control all of the elements; it made him weaker than the others, especially as it took one person a while to learn how to control just the ones the others had. "Their main priority, other than the protection of our country, is to make sure that we don't cause a nationwide panic."

"I think it's a little late for that, bro," Patrick remarked.

_It's too late for a lot of things, _Cody realized. It was too late to continue to question things. It was time to get things done rather than sit back and let it happen to them. His hands clenched. He was never one that was an aggressive person, choosing to be passive and let things roll off his back. Many years of fighting for his life had changed that. Cody's eyes moved around the room, his eyebrows lowering. Computers, Filing cabinets, wires, electronics all filled the room, all of it holding the knowledge that the kids lacked.

He was tired of not knowing anything.

"So why were we brought here?" He asked, flipping his hair out of his face. He reached behind him, untied his ponytail, and then tied it up again. "Other than protection I mean."

Diamond now took up the conversation. "We never wanted to have this happen but now it's too late." He placed his hands behind his back. Cody recognized the stance and realized he had military training. To what extent did he give his life to the cause? "When the portal between the Element World and Earth opened, it started before we could stop it."

"What sort of project is it?" Rhuben sounded impatient. Her knees were bobbing up and down rapid fire. As Cody watched her, he suddenly realized how well he still knew her. He could tell from the look on her face that there was something wrong. There was a haunted aura deep in her dark blue eyes. Beside her, Reihu seemed disinterested in the conversation.

Maybe he was torn. Cody had never asked him about his experiences with WingzCorp and how the revelation of Core's true intentions had affected him. He was the one that had followed Core's orders and seen him as a sort of mentor for years and to have it all ripped away from him, just like he had been ripped away from his family…maybe he had suffered more than the others could even begin to imagine. It made sense that he and Rhuben had eventually ended up together, he realized. They were like kindred spirits in a way.

"Peregrinatio transtemporalis," Christian replied.

There was a blank look that moved through the room. Cody recognized it as Latin, he had an idea what it meant, but they weren't the words he would have chosen to explain it. As it was, even he was a little confused. _It wouldn't be the first time, _he thought.

"Time Travel," Sydney finally spoke up. All eyes turned to the youngest member of the group. "I would have used iter transtemporale as the direct translation but both works, especially considering the root of transteporale, which means to travel. Though it could also, potentially, be used to refer to a worm hole, which could have the same properties as time travel in general." He then looked serious. "I've heard about it, who hasn't? But I thought that, like cloning dolly, it was something that was far off and only atoms had been moved so far."

"You're right," Christian agreed. "Up until recently when we found something." He and Diamond exchanged a glance. "Or should I say _someone_."

"Who?" Zack snickered. "Father Time."

"Precisely."

"I was kidding."

"It makes sense though," Tapeworm said. His eyebrows were furrowed together, the skin between them wrinkled. "When I went there…in my dream…there were mentions of a king and queen of sorts. At the time I thought only Mother Nature ruled the place as you can't have light without darkness, you can't have nature without time."

"You know, you'd figure I wouldn't be so surprised about these things anymore," Riley said slowly. She leaned back against the bottom of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. She was chewing her lower lip, absentmindedly playing with her hair. "What does that have to do with why we're here?"

Christian turned around and picked up three sheets of paper. When he turned back around, he revealed them to be photographs of the Jacksons' parents, Core, and Crystal's mother. All of the pictures appeared to be of age when they were in college, maybe their yearbook pictures. Each one of them were smiling without a care in the world. It was eerie, seeing photos of those that had passed years before, knowing the ways they had passed.

"They all had been taken from us too early because of the things we were finding out," he said. "And even with them gone, they've helped in more ways that I could ever imagine and it could be what stops this all together."

_Not Core thought, _Cody reminded himself. _He's only missing. No one knows where he is. _Not that it made a difference. The SS Tipton had been missing before and suddenly the people on there had come back. _Wait… _that was the connection. There had been some sort of a…rip or a tear in the time fabric. Cody had researched it before. Some referred to it as a glitch in the matrix; to a human experiencing déjà vu or an explanation for an unlikely or irregular occurrence. Cody was sure he and Zack had done it once. They had been in a mall in Seattle with their mother, the same mall they had always gone into. They went into the bathroom at one end of the mall, but when they came back out of the bathroom, they were on the other side of the mall.

Cody had been confused, not understanding how the merry-go-round had been moved so quickly. He knew Zack had seen it too, because he had made a whimpering sound of confusion. The two went back into the bathroom and talked to each other, trying to see if they had really seen it then went back out a few seconds later and found Carey waiting by the water fountain for them, like she was supposed to be. When they tried to tell her about it, she brushed it off as a kid's imagination running wild.

Over the years he had forgotten about it, now it all came flooding back.

"Who's to say that it's not possible," Cody mused. His mind was running a mile a minute and he spoke slowly, trying to extract the points that were the most needed. The ones that made the most sense. "No one knows what is possible or what isn't possible and there have been documented cases of people claiming time travel. What about that modern looking guy in the old photograph?" He had seen it on a website and for days tried to figure out how it happened. "What about those that claimed they had been abducted by aliens? I don't believe they were abducted, but it doesn't explain the passage of time and where they claimed they had gone." He gestured towards Christian and Diamond. "I'm sure there have been many instances where you guys had experienced it yourselves if not running into examples of it or studies?"

"And that's exactly why we brought you here," Diamond added.

The room seemed to hold their breath in that moment. "What do you want us to do?" Maddie asked.

"The reason all of this has happened is because of the collapse of the barrier between the Element and human world. Though there have been instances of humans in that world; as is the case from your guardians having human forms, we have reason to believe that if we can find when the barrier started to open and how to close it, we can put all of this behind us."

"You're saying you want us to be able to find a way to time travel?" The bewildered expression on Patrick's face was priceless.

"We're not saying it," Diamond contradicted. "We're telling you."

* * *

Sitting in her uncle's office, Rhuben frowned, looking over the pictures of her parents, her aunt, and their friend that had been left on the table. When she had the time, she picked them up and walked them into the office so she could have time to herself. They were frozen in time, at a time where they were clearly happier. Having gotten married right out of college and having their first child about two years later, and the rest of their children after that, they had only been in their thirties by the time they had passed. Or, as the case actually was, was murdered. It was so strange to think about, she realized. That they had been taken away from her all because of selfish reasons and it was something, at the time, she hadn't understood.

How would life had been different if they were still around? She would have been happier, that was for sure. She and her siblings wouldn't have gone through that much pain and they wouldn't have been so confused and alone when they had awakened and were trying to figure out what was going on with their powers and how to control the. They would have known that WingzCorp was actually trying to help them and maybe have stayed with WingzCorp and Nathan as he was trying to protect them in a sense. At the thought of her former home, all those years ago, Rhuben glared down at the pictures in front of her.

He had been cruel in a sense. Taking those that were normal, that had the possibility of awakening and living what could have been a semi-normal life, and experimenting on them and turning them into something no one had ever become. Reihu had been a victim of that, being taken from his family when he was a kid and had been turned into a half-human, half-lion hybrid that had been following her around since they were kids. Even when they had been fighting WingzCorp throughout the years he had been hesitant in attacking her. She knew he had a crush on her, everyone knew that, but he was essentially just a kid that hadn't been around girls as she was the only one in the DarkLions, her section of the large organization.

It was good to know that the feelings were genuine, that was a need of some normalcy as things went on. Even when she had gone out with Cody there was a part of her that knew he wouldn't understand what she was going through...what she _had _gone through. He was trying to be optimistic, trying to get her to forget everything that had gone on before and that wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want to forget, she didn't want to have all of those memories go away and in the end it was something she couldn't deal with anymore. He had understood that, when they talked, but he was still hurt and confused over what had happened to break them up.

"You know, I never realized before how much you look like your mother." Rhuben barely glanced over her shoulder as Cody walked up behind her. He picked up the picture on his left and looked it over. "Like, almost exactly like her."

"Codes…that's my Aunt," Rhuben corrected him. She reached to the right and picked up the picture lying on that side of her father. "This is my mum, mate."

Cody blushed and took the picture offered to him. Rhuben sat down on the stool by the table, crossing her legs at the knee. She leaned forward and continued to study the picture. Her father had certainly been handsome and he clearly had a mischievous side, from the glint in his eye that showed he knew more than he was letting on. At the same time, she could see how he had been taken so seriously, he commanded respect but still had the friendly demeanor all Australians seemed to have. She could see her face in his, especially the eyes as each of his kids had taken his blue eyes. Her smile was his too. However, stick her next to her mother and, somehow, she seemed to look exactly like her as well; the hair and the nose and the face structure that fluctuated between thin and round that had caused her and Riley to be mistaken for being younger than they were for years.

"Still, you look exactly like her," Cody continued, putting the picture down. "She was beautiful."

"She was," Rhuben agreed.

"Her name was Ruriko?"

"Renee…it really depended on who was referring to her at the time, but she answered to both names."

"Ah."

Rhuben stared at the pictures a minute longer and with a harsh sigh, reached out and flipped them back over. She couldn't look at them much longer. She could already feel the darkness closing in on her again and she had to close her eyes and concentrate hard for it to ward off to the point where she could control it. It was becoming harder and harder over the years and she knew it was directly linked to her despair. The next year…not too far away…it would have been ten years since it all started for her and the darkness was getting harder and harder to control each day.

"I know."

Cody's voice startled her and she managed to send out a small burst of energy across the room, knocking a clock off the wall. It fell to the floor, breaking the plastic front covering, knocking the hands into a certain position.

"I know that you're having trouble controlling your powers," Cody continued. "I saw it in your eyes earlier today," he continued as Rhuben gazed at him, her eyes slowly narrowing. "I saw it when you had attacked those two guys and gave them the…"

Rhuben closed her eyes and turned away, clenching her hands into fists as a sharp pain moved through her head. She gritted her teeth together, sucking each new and haggard breath through her teeth. _Stop, stop, stop…_she thought. _You can do this…don't let it take you over…_It took a couple of moments, but the pain finally went away, allowing her to breathe again. Just the thought alone…seeing what she had done to them made it come back. She had done it when the kids from Halo Syndicate had been attacking them. That had been the first time she had let her powers go out of control in ages, she had essentially fried the poor kid's brain, releasing thoughts, ideas and images no one had ever wanted to see and sent them into a permanent shell shock.

The same she had done to those men that had been fighting them. It was becoming harder and harder to not do it while in battle anymore. Even sparring with her siblings, while back in Australia, she had to try hard not to let it take her over completely. It was a wonder she was even able to function anymore as it was a constant thought in the back of her head.

"I know it's hard for you to control," Cody continued, his voice soothing. "But…if my plan works, depending on what happens, it could be something that really helps us."

Rhuben looked at him sharply then gave a scornful laugh. "That's great, Codes. Being able to completely get taken over…" She turned to him, glaring fiercely before lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. "Do you know what it's like? The darkness isn't just a thing…it's alive. It's something that is in everyone and if they allow it to get to them…then it has you. You're done. You're gone. It's an evil thing…as far as I'm concerned; it may be the devil itself."

"That would explain your guys' curses then," Cody said.

Rhuben didn't respond. She hadn't needed to think about that in a while; hers, Riley's, and Crystal's curses…it wasn't anything they had problems with in the past couple of years. It didn't mean it had completely gone away.

"Look." Cody took another step towards her. He angled his head back towards the basement. "I saw the look in your eyes when we were out there…the haunted look and I know you're still thinking of what you've done. You didn't have a choice in the matter, they may have killed you before we could—"

"I don't know if you really are a few sheep short of the station, mate, but they just got done saying they need our help," Rhuben interrupted. "I don't think they were trying to kill us." She turned her head away. "Which just made what I've done worse," she murmured.

"But if what they're saying is true, then we're really going to need you," Cody insisted. "It's like Tape said, you can't have darkness without light and vice versa. Geneva and Gattaca exhibit that as they're the current rulers of the Element World and hold the balance. You hold part of the balance, it'll be hard, but you and your powers are one of the most important people right now."

"What about light then? None of us holds that."

"We'd have to figure that out, but I need you to trust me on this," Cody insisted. "I…have an idea and you'd be a big part of it. I don't know if it'd word though."

"Considering the only other option that I have it death I don't trust a lot of people," Rhuben remarked. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Especially considering what happened."

"Since then have I given you a reason not to trust me, Rhu?"

"No…"

"Well?"

Rhuben twisted her mouth to the side before looking down at her hands. Even as she watched, they started to glow a light purple. It took only a little bit of concentration to get it to stop this time. It was worrying; if there was a way she could get it to stop, to be absolutely sure she wasn't trouble for those around her. If she could be sure that her brothers and sister weren't in any danger.

She glanced at the time on the clock.

"You know I'm a nyctophilic right?"

Cody smiled. "What does that mean?"

"It means, Cody, that you have a _lot _of work ahead of you," Rhuben said.

* * *

**A/N: **Now that I've got the general idea of my story fleshed out, things should start making more sense soon, haha. As it is, this story's rating may need to go up to 'M' at some point because of language and violence. I'm just giving a general warning now.

I'm doing my best to give the other characters bigger parts as the story focuses on Zack, Cody, and Bailey and revolves (mostly) around their POVs. Hopefully I did a good job of it here because I'm gonna split the POVs as it goes on because I've figured out what I'm doing now.

And now we have thrown Father Time into the mix which was an idea given to me by _tiger002 _which I talked to with Cry and Rhu about and they agreed that having that as an element to their world was a good idea. It gave us a good chuckle as well.

For those wondering I'm still working on _Help Me, Save Me _and _Intuition _(the sequels to _Save Me From Myself_) I haven't given up on them.

Cheers,

-Riles


	9. I don't want to hurt you

CHAPTER EIGHT

* * *

The FCIC; Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. The CIA; Central Intelligence Agency. The two organizations that were stationed in Langley, Virginia, a couple miles outside of D.C. Every time a crisis would come up in the United States there were some sort of faction of both teams that would immediately fall into action. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission's last big piece of work was considering the attacks on 9/11 as the fallout of the economy and the safety of the United States residents were their main priority. Things had to be turned back to normal so that the attacks wouldn't cause a completely fallout to the lives that resided on the thought they were financially stable.

The CIA's last project was that of 9/11 as well, taking up most of their time, as well as gathering as much information as they could in regards to terrorism. Anyone that fell under a certain profile was the kind of people the CIA made sure to get their information on, the FBI going on the manhunt afterwards, using the information that CIA had found.

This time, however, both factions were now studying the close link between the Elementals and the way the United States could move forward, now that their presence had become well known over the past couple of years. The heads of each department had been floored, finding out that it was a bunch of teenagers that had been at the head of the fights and destruction going around, especially in Boston, Massachusetts. Not that there hadn't been any other elementals that needed to be followed around the United States as a whole, but Boston was the main area the incidents were happening.

It hadn't taken long for the CIA to figure out that Nathan Reeves, or Core as he preferred to be referred to by, was at the head of the incidents. His work through the government files as well as files of his own had been notified of the first moment he had stumbled across them. The work on elementals had been investigated on and off for years at that point in time, seeing how Core and his friends had managed to find out more than the government could in a matter of months, the four had been kept tabs of the rest of their lives.

Now they had a group of teenagers deep in their organization, getting the intense training only those that had the mental capability could withstand. Some would say "they're only kids, how could you do that to them?"

But if anyone had seen how they worked up close, they would note that they more than 'just kids'.

They were the ones that were going to save the word.

* * *

Bailey flipped herself upside down, holding herself up on the parallel bar by her legs. After a couple of minutes, she could feel the heaviness of blood rushing to her head, collecting at the base and turning her eyes red. The backs of her legs started to burn but she continue to hold herself upside down. That was what she had to train for, to push herself to the limit when things got uncomfortable. One of the easiest ways to break someone was by forcing them into constant pain for as long as they could handle it. She knew of the dangers of hanging upside down for too long; high blood pressure hemorrhaging, stroke, brain damage, blindness, seizures…

All of those were possible outcomes to the form of torture. She had heard about them before, being turned upside down and allowing the pressure to build until death if not getting a chance to relieve the pressure. And that was only one form of the torture that could be used, another being held in a upside down like position, but having water run over your face, giving you the feeling that you were drowning, if not from the claustrophobia as the person being tortured was put in a shallow like grave to achieve the affect.

Bailey closed her eyes, breathing a steady stream through her nose and out her mouth. A dull pain started to throb at the side of her head. She could hold on a little bit longer. Her extensive research of the human body as well as how each system worked throughout it was something she was knowledgeable about. She knew when her body was going to give out; it wasn't like the rest of her friends. She wasn't an elemental so she didn't have the ability to run faster or lift more weights or be impervious to certain things; she had to work her body harder and harder to be a valuable part of the team.

_"You are a valuable part of the team," Geneva pointed out. "You've always been since I first revealed myself to you. I knew you were able to handle what was going on."_

_"And you were one of the ones that managed to stop me," Gattaca added. "As well as to help return to mother back to the Element World where she's reigning over the kingdom the best she can."_

"What does that mean for Father Time though?" Bailey asked out loud. Opening her eyes, she groaned, seeing how the colors had started to change, and slowly brought herself up onto the uneven bars. She brought a hand up to her chin. "Just like in the human world, if there's a lack of time, there's a lack of life. Plants wouldn't grow, humans wouldn't grow up to become adults, there would be on advances in technology. We would still be in the proverbial dark ages." Stretching her legs out, she rested her feet on the bar that was across from her and bent forward, placing her face in her hands, waiting for the pounding to go away. "What does that mean for the Element world?"

"Without Father Time's presence in the Element World, it's only a matter of time before it will inevitably collapse," Gattaca said bluntly.

Bailey sucked in a sharp breath.

"But don't worry, child, Mother Nature is doing her best to preserve the life of the Element World," Geneva reassured her. "You're forgetting that it's managed to hold its own for as long as she and Gattaca haven't been there. Those that are still there are defending it as much as they can from those that are trying to take it over. That's what the Mystic Melody is for."

"Tapeworm explained that to me once," Bailey said. She finally sat back, pulling her hair out of her face. "It's a battle sound that you all use as a warning to get prepared for a fight, right?"

"It's used for more than that."

"The Mystic Melody is also what's used to enhance the powers of those that are going to go fight, depending on the strength of the opponent they're going after. The longer the melody goes on, the more power they need."

"I always thought the power of the Elementals were infinite," Bailey mused. Bringing her leg down, she started to kick them back and forth. She could feel the muscles in her legs starting to cramp up and tighten with each kick of her leg. It seemed like humans were able to have an infinite source of power, but even then there was a chance for people to completely tire themselves out, no matter how in shape they were. "If there's a limit to that power…where does it come from?"

"From the world's core." Bailey turned around to see Aaron walk into the room, skillfully dodging the pieces of gymnastic equipment that had been left behind by those that had been using it before. He pulled himself up onto the bars next to her and turned to face her, shifting his floppy blonde hair from his face. "Or the maybe the Earth's core, considering the world is collapsing on the other." His voice cracked at the end of his sentence, causing Bailey to smile. The young boy had definitely grown up in the couple of years that Bailey had known him. He had started to lose the baby fat that had been left over and his voice had started to change, along with growing to the point where he was nearing being taller than the girls. "There's a theory that the core of the planet, along with being surrounded by magma and rock, holds the essence of life of that planet." He flipped his floppy blond hair out of his face. "And if that were the case, that means that the power of the core of the planet is the only thing that's keeping life alive."

Bailey slowly nodded. In a way, that made sense. Everything she had ever known about life, before accidentally stumbling upon Zack's and Cody's secret had all seemed to implode as soon as she had seen that battle. She closed her eyes. Koto and Reihu had been very vicious the way they had fought the twin boys. It was obvious they had been dealing with it for a long time, especially the way they had interacted with each other in between the punches and kicks and fire and water attacks. She hadn't known anything about that existence until it was right in front of her face. Who said it wasn't possible that the earth's core was more than what scientists were lead to believe? Who said it really wasn't an infinite source of power that kept the planet from collapsing?

"If that were the case, then how hasn't it been tapped out yet?" Bailey returned.

Aaron slowly blinked, his eyebrows furrowing together. "How do we know it hasn't?" He returned. "You're forgetting that we haven't been able to accurately see everything about the Element World and we probably never will. There're a lot of different things that we won't know until the time is right." He rolled his eyes. "God knows that's not going to happen until the Earth blows up."

Bailey laughed and gently lowered herself to the ground. _We could only be so lucky, _she thought. _If the Earth blows up, we could probably all move to the Element World and keep things going from there._

"But then there's the fact that we don't know how things work over there," Aaron continued. "Sure, Tapeworm somehow managed to manifest part of him that was able to get there in his dreams, but we can't be sure that was the real thing." He ran a hand through his hair, brushing the bangs off his forehead. "At the same time, who am I to say that he didn't see what he saw?"

Bailey looked back at the young boy, who had jumped down next to her, resting his hand on the bar. He gently tapped his fingers up and down, the vibrations moving through her palm and up through her body. That was the way he was able to see things, through sounds and vibrations, maybe a mental picture after being in a specific place for so long. He proved at times to be a skilled fighter despite the fact that he wasn't able to see. He didn't have any powers that they knew of but managed to compensate for it by using his smarts that rivaled Sydney's, to help out the rest of the group.

"You seem to know a lot about this," Bailey remarked.

Aaron shrugged. "Just theories," he denied. "The fact that I can't see it directly is the most difficult part. But that's why I have this program that basically explains it in things other than just pictures and ideas; it explains it in numbers and figures."

That, Bailey realized, might be what they needed to help figure things out. It was limiting, in a way, to only be able to see things as they happen, rather than try to understand them in different ways. Bailey chewed her lower lip as she thought about it. It made a lot of sense. Maybe that's exactly what they needed.

"You know how your sister's computer has a lot of stored up information on Elementals that your Dad has managed to gather?" She asked slowly. Aaron nodded. "Is there any way that you can use that in your program and change it to the algorithms that you use?"

"Possibly," Aaron agreed. "I'd need Sydney's help but—"

"Exactly," Bailey agreed. "That's exactly what I'd need." She reached out and ruffled Aaron's hair, causing a small smile to appear on his face. "Thanks!" She grabbed her towel off the floor and walked out of the gymnastics area and out into the hallway. She took a deep breath, looking around the winding, confusing hallways of the compound that she and her friends had been transported to. A part of her had been excited to know she was going to be seeing the CIA headquarters and how things in DC really worked—it being one of her biggest dreams—before realizing they were going to be put up in a compound to eat, sleep, and breathe rigorous training before they were sent out on their next mission.

Hopefully this would be the one that would save both world and keep them from fading from existence.

Hearing a door close down the hall, Bailey followed the sound and locked eyes with Cody, who had just come out of the medical room. From the small bandage that had been put on his right forearm, he must have had a physical done. The two continued to watch each other for a moment and Bailey gave him a nod before turning on her heel and walking away from him.

It was funny how things like war managed to tear even the closest people apart.

* * *

"I don't want to hurt you," Zack said, cracking his knuckles.

Riley, who stood across the room from him, cocked an eyebrow. Her upper lip curled at his words and she gritted her teeth. "You won't," she replied coolly. She fluttered her fingers at her sides before curling them into fists. "You won't even get close enough," she added under her breath.

"Are you ready?" Christian asked, staring down at a computer screen. Sydney sat at his side, looking at his own computer, eyebrows lowered in concentration. One he got the confirmation nod from Zack and Riley, Diamond pressed a button not he stop watch to signal the start of the match. "Go!"

"Firestorm!" Riley was quick to move, summoning her fire powers and creating a hail storm of fireballs down towards the blond teen. Zack dove forward onto the ground and rolled out of the way of the raining fire. He cupped his hands together and send a stream of fire back towards her. Riley flipped backwards out of the way, barely managing to escape a burst of fire, it singing her shoulder. Using her enhanced speed, she surged forward and ducked under Zack's outstretched arm, spinning on her left foot and driving the heel of her right into the side of his face.

Zack stumbled back, bringing a hand up to his cheek. He scowled then brought his hands up, throwing a punch back at her. Riley caught it in her hand and forced his arm out of the way, punching him in the side. Zack retaliated by grabbing onto both of her hands and forcing them apart. He wrapped his right leg around her left and forced her to the floor, aiming a kick of his heel down onto her stomach.

"Wow, they're really going at it," Sydney murmured.

"I did say I wanted to test the extent of their powers," Christian murmured. "It's not common that two people having the same element in close proximity."

"What about Cody and Crystal?"

"Ice and water are similar factions, but they're not the same thing. Their powers can easily help each other as they're in two different states. Just like if one of you were and Elemental of Light he or she and Rhuben would be able to help each other as their powers can't work, or stay in balance, without each other. Having two fires, on the other hand, has the better chance of causing more destruction."

"But Zack controls regular fire and Riley controls dark fire! Wouldn't that balance it out?"

Christian nodded. "Normally, it should, considering all signs point to the fact that Zack is Riley's light, but in this case it may have to do more with pent-up aggression."

Sydney nodded. "The Koto thing?"

"And considering she was the one that awakened him and he ended up being stronger than her; that may have something to do with it." Christian winced as Riley struck Zack with a kick so hard he fell back, rolling across the mats that were the floor of the training room. "And she basically just proved my point."

Sydney looked up at his uncle with a sly smile. "Something tells me you're not just having them fight to see what Zack's power is like now that he can use the Element Stone of Fire,"

"You'd be correct."

Sydney sighed, shaking his head though he chuckled in amusement.

Zack's scowl deepened as he crossed his arms and brought them up, shielding his face as Riley aimed a fiery kick at him. He pushed her backwards and his right hand started to glow a brilliant red. Instead of the glow encompassing only his hand, it went over his entire right arm before it burst into flames. Still crouching on the ground, Zack started to windmill his arm, as if he was warming up his arm for a baseball pitch. Each time his arm swung around the flames continued to get brighter and brighter.

"Here we go," Christian murmured. Sydney nodded and angled the camera that was connected to his laptop over at Zack, zooming in as close as he could, while still getting a good picture.

"Fire kiln!" Zack stopped swinging his arm and thrust his arm forward. The fire came off his arm and continued to spin in a large fireball. It got bigger and bigger before shooting across the room over towards Riley, creating a form of a dragon so large that the temperature of the room rapidly increased.

_Dammit. _Riley took a step back then glared, furrowing her eyes together. She thrust out her own right arm. "Darkness Dragon Flame!" The black dragon that resided on her arm lifted up and turned into flames as well. It roared loudly and charged back towards the dragon that Zack had created. Hers was considerably smaller than Zack's dragon and while it had done considerable amount of damage over the years—enough so that she only used the attack a handful of times—Zack's dragon crashed into it and dissipated it, his dragon crashing into Riley and sending her into the back wall. She fell to the floor, breathing heavily, closing her eyes. _Dammit. _She knew she had made a mistake, using that attack so early when it drained so much of her power…

It was a mistake. She knew that now.

"Stop!" Diamond called, pressing a button on the stopwatch once more. He glanced at the time and walked it over to Christian who looked at the time and wrote it down.

Riley, who continued to sit on the floor, slowly brought her knees up, resting her forehead on her knees. She tried to catch her breath, already feeling lightheaded. She had been right in disagreeing to the practice in the first place, it was a bad idea. But then Sydney had done what he always did to get his way and widened his already large eyes to appear as innocent as possible, immediately causing her walls to crumble, making her give in. _This was your fault; you can do better than that. You have before. You just let what they said get to you…_

"I said I didn't want to hurt you," Zack said, walking over and sitting down in front of her. "I'm sorry."

Riley lifted her head and looked at him defiantly. "You didn't," she denied stubbornly.

"I think that would prove you wrong." Zack indicated to the burn on her shoulder. She merely glanced at it, before shrugging, turning her head away. "Don't you want to get it looked at?"

"No!" Riley climbed to her feet, gritting her teeth as a flash of pain rushed up her arm. She walked away from Zack and turned to Christian, Diamond, and Sydney for further instruction. They all seemed preoccupied with the data they had just collected. That was fine. She left the training room and headed back towards the room she had been assigned, her footsteps echoing quickly off the wall, her fast pace expressing her agitation. After a few minutes of walking she let out an exasperated sigh and turned her head so that she could look at Zack out of the corner of her eye. "Stop following me!" She snapped.

Zack smirked as he picked up his pace, falling into step beside her. "I've been following you for years and it's never bothered you before."

"I just never said anything before," Riley murmured. "I was too busy punching or slapping you." Zack grabbed onto her arm, pulling her to a stop. "Which is what I'll do again if you don't let go."

"Not until we talk about this," Zack said forcefully. He tilted his head back in the direction of the training room. "You let what they said get to you."

Riley frowned, doing her best to have it be the only amount of emotion to register on her face. She hadn't thought anyone noticed how easily what Christian had said shook her. She hadn't thought about it in a long time and hearing the words out in the open again affected her more than she had wanted it to.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"About Koto?" Zack's eyebrow rose. "We haven't talked about that at all?"

"What's there to talk about? He's dead. End of story."

The bluntness of her words caused Zack's mouth to tighten. He waited a moment before speaking once more. "The fact that he saved me when he died is a big thing, especially considering beforehand he wanted nothing to do but rip my throat out." Riley didn't respond. "Also because he was your friend even though the two of you never seemed to acknowledge it."

"And for the most part I didn't acknowledge you're my friend either, let alone my boyfriend," Riley pointed out.

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out." Zack snickered.

Riley finally managed a smile, causing Zack to smile back. He leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She turned her head away, bringing a hand up to her forehead and scratched it, hiding the look of anxiety that flashed across her face. "We weren't even close friends anyway. Just two people stuck in the same sort of situation, but I got out and he didn't."

"And me being stronger than you doesn't bother you either?" Zack didn't look convinced.

Riley's lip twitched. "That'd be a petty thing to get upset over don't you think?" Her eyes moved away. It _was_ a sad thing to get over and at the beginning she could admit she was upset over it. She and Rhuben had been used to being so strong and having that sense of responsibility put on them, especially having found out about the prophecy first. When Zack and Cody had been destined to be the strongest relief had taken place of that responsibility along with confusion. They hadn't had any relatives that had been in the situation and all of a sudden they were the strong ones? It hadn't made any sense.

"The fact you're not answering my questions proves my point, considering you only do that when you're trying to avoid something." A small smile graced Riley's lips. Apparently he knew her better than she originally thought. _Must be times he was following me, _she thought. Zack reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, gently stroking her neck. Riley resisted the urge to knock his hand away, not sure if it was a move of affection or condescension. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Riley said finally. "I'm just starting to realize that I really hate not knowing what's going to happen."

"About what?"

"Everything." She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave him a quick kiss. "I'll see you later." Turning on her heel, she continued to her room.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine."

* * *

**A/N: **Before I offend anyone, I don't know much about the FCIC or the CIA, I read Wikipedia as much as I could to understand, but as with most things having to do with the government in general it escapes me and I only have some general knowledge. So I used the idea of them as sparingly as I could while it fell into the plot with this story.

And Zack and Riley having to talk about Koto was bound to happen sometime between the three stories as there were moments of tension between the two because of that subject through the end of the first story and throughout the second one as well as Riley's thoughts on Zack and Cody being the 'strongest elementals of their time'. Plus I thought a fight between the two as they share the same element would be interesting to write and I haven't done it in a while.

I hope you liked the chapter. I'll update soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	10. A Look Into The Past II

CHAPTER NINE

* * *

Nathan, Kristen, Christian, Reed, and Ruriko all balanced themselves as they took off their shoes in the little genkan before entering the house. It was the small foyer before the complete entrance of the home where one was to show respect by taking off their shoes before entering the house.

"That's the biggest mistake a tourist can make," Kristen had explained, carefully lining up the shoes to one side of the genkan. "It's a sign of disrespect of the home if you don't do it."

"Of course you're usually pardoned for your first mistake," Ruriko added with a teasing lift to her voice. She smirked at the boys. "Though we like to make sure that you don't forget it afterwards." She reached out and gently opened the door to the house and led the way inside. Kristen, Reed, Christian, and Nathan followed behind them. "First, we have to do one last thing."

The two young women walked over to a portrait of what appeared to be a fox hanging over a mantel. They picked up two sticks of incense that were gently smoking, and waved them around, closing their eyes, and allowing the smoke to drift up towards the portrait. As the smoke continued to swirl and dissipate into the air above them, a warm feeling seemed to cover the room in a heavy veil. When it reduced, the eye son the portrait seemed to flash. A smile gently graced the girls' features as they continued to swirl the incense.

Reed crossed his arms as he waited, eyes moving around the room. There was a little bit of wallpaper that covered the room, little birds mixed with pastel leaves. The tatami mats that covered the floor were thick and woven, slightly rough under his feet. But at the same time it felt comfortable to him. From where he was standing he could see into another room, the dining room maybe, that held a table close to the floor, pillows gently resting around each side. The house seemed big enough for two people to live comfortably and it held an air of spirituality around it. As his eyes moved, he found a few pieces of art and pottery that held kanji on the front and sides, though he couldn't read it himself, he felt it was something of the utmost importance.

Christian walked over to the large window at the side of the room and gripped the silky curtains between his fingers. Pulling it back, he looked out over a garden in the backyard. Cherry blossoms surrounded the perimeter of the property while tiny gardens filled sporadically around the luscious green grass. They weren't far from the city but the noise didn't reach them where they were. There was a tranquil atmosphere around the house, something he couldn't miss. Through the crack in the window he could smell the soothing scent of the cherry blossoms wafting around him and enclosing him in a calm breeze.

Nathan watched the smoke as it rose to the ceiling. The patterns it created as it flowed from the gently burning tips of the fragranced sticks mesmerized him. It was like a dance, the smoke twisting and twirling, waving its arms and legs as they continued their haunting dance towards the sky. What was it that had really caught his attention of it, the dark color, and the way it wouldn't have been noticed apart from the one person watching it? Maybe it was because he knew how it felt, to be noticed when it was time to be noticed and ignored when it wasn't time. He had gone through many science fairs and expos where he was able to show off his experiments and research without being shunned and exiled. It wasn't until he had met Reed and Christian that he felt he somewhat belonged.

Nathan lifted his eyes, watching the smoke as it twirled around the portrait. His eyes narrowed. Had it just moved? It looked like it had just turned its head and looked at him with narrowed eyes. Blinking, he looked away and turned back to the girls. "What are you doing?" He asked him.

Kristen opened her eyes and lowered the incense stick. "Paying respects to the kitsune that protects our family," she replied.

"Bless you," Reed said.

Ruriko chuckled. "No, a _kitsune_. It means fox." Reed's eyebrows furrowed together in an expression of slight confusion as Christian and Nathan snickered beside him.

"This six tailed kitsune has been rumored to be a guardian to our family for as long as I can remember," Kristen explained. Ruriko replaced her incense stick as well. "We pay respects whenever we come home and every morning, as a way to thank it for keeping us safe." She turned to the boys and gave them a peaceful smile. "I bet you all are hungry, I'll make us something to eat while we wait for our grandfather to get here." Her motherly instinct kicked in and she led the way from the front room to the dining room, motioning for the guests to sit down before she disappeared into the kitchen.

"So where is your grandfather right now?" Nathan crossed his legs underneath the table, hoping he wasn't disrespecting someone by the way he had positioned himself.

"Considering what time it is, most likely coming back from the market," Ruriko replied. "He knows we were arriving today and wanted to be sure that he could give us some of the best food the city had to offer."

Nathan nodded then got right to the point. "What does he know about Elementals?"

"Everything you ever needed to know," Ruriko said. Her voice was a little sharp, as if she was offended that her grandfather's integrity was being questioned. "He's had his powers for as long as I can remember and if I'm not mistaken, he has the power of light. Though I've never seen him do it in person and if he did, he passed it off as magic before we understood what it was as well." She laced her fingers together. "He was always stronger than most people, able to move faster, get things done during the day that would take most people a whole week…"

"Does he know anything about what could potentially be going on with Trethaway?" Reed pressed. "Anything that could have to do with the way the element stones work?"

"Why don't you ask me yourself, young man?" Ruriko turned and got to her feet, hugging the older man that stood only a little bit taller than her. He hugged her, gently patting her on the back, before side-stepping her so he could face the three young men that were sitting around his table. His left eye seemed to be permanently squinted and while he was visibly older than the boys anticipated, he still had an air about him that was youthful. "Then again I may as well show you."

There was a gust of wind and all of a sudden he was at the head of the table, slowly lowering himself down to the floor, bringing his legs behind him as he sat. He glanced at Ruriko. "Where's your sister, Renee?"

"In the kitchen," Ruriko replied.

"Renee?" Nathan repeated, eyebrows shooting up. "I thought your name was Ruriko?"

"It is," Kristen explained as she came out of the kitchen, carefully balancing a tray that was filled with bowls. She sat down at the last empty seat and took her own bowl before handing it Christian, who sat at her left. "She answers to both of her names; it really depends on who is speaking to her that she uses her Japanese or English one. Just like my Japanese name is Keiko but I prefer Kristen." She turned back to her grandfather and bowed slightly. "Ohayō no sofu," she said to him."And as you can see," The older man said in a low, rumbling voice. "My granddaughters have become much immersed in the American culture." He gave a small smile. "My son-in-law must have done something right."

Kristen then turned to the boys and waved an arm. "This is our grandfather, Akito."

Akito leaned forward and bowed to the three men in front of him. He noticed the worried expressions on their faces and held up his hands. "No need for formalities," he said to them. "I'm sure you're aware of the different suffixes that are used for respect around here. As long as you respect my granddaughters, then we have no problems here." He took the bowl that was offered to him and brought it up to his face, breathing in deeply through his nose. "Now, who, may I ask, are you three?"

"I'm Christian Manning, this is Reed Jackson, and Nathan Reeves," Christian introduced himself. He shifted into a more comfortable position and so that he was facing the older man. "We know that you understand a lot about Elementals and we were hoping you could help us."

"First, we brought this." Nathan reached into the satchel that was with him and brought out a silk scarf wrapped around the Element stone of light. He handed it over to Akito who gently unwrapped it. If he was surprised at the stone lying in the scarf, he didn't show it. "We know that you gave your granddaughters this Element stone. We were wondering if you could tell us everything you know about it and Elementals."

Akito closed his eyes for a long moment and as he did so, the lights dimmed and brightened in a constant pulse for as long as he held his eyes shut. The young men and women glanced at each other, waiting as the older man continued to meditate. Finally, he opened his eyes. "If you've brought this to me, then that means the balance of the two worlds has certainly fallen apart."

"That must be why the government had so many files on it," Nathan remarked. He snapped his fingers. "They knew there were more and more Elementals awakening as the years went on and the balance between the two worlds started to fall apart."

"So what happened to Trethaway?" Reed demanded. "That stone reacted when he was starting to attack the school. He attacked _us_!"

"Probably because he knew you were on to him," Akito replied, arching an eyebrow. His voice had turned gruff in response to Reed's impatience. "I would have done the same thing to those that tried to oppress me." He lowered his gaze and the stone. "I managed to get away, but I wasn't so lucky."

"What happened, Grandpa?" Kristen's mouth turned down at the corners in a slight pout.

"I was facing someone much stronger than I had ever anticipated fighting," Akito said slowly. "And…I had a curse put on me. It's been with me for years. It's not going to go away until the one that placed it on me is killed. And…I have a feeling that it may be the same person that is dealing with this Trethaway fellow at the moment."

Nathan brought his hands up and rested them over his face. It still didn't answer a lot of their questions, though it did shed some light on some situations. Whatever had fought Akito when he was young had slipped through the cracks when the world started to merge together, when they were supposed to be separate. Whatever had attacked Akito was what had, more than likely, taken over Trethaway and attacked them when they got too close to figuring out its identity. His eyes moved over to the portrait that hung over the mantel. It was supposed to be a guardian for the family…so what if it was what had kept the girls' parents and themselves from becoming elementals?

And if that wasn't the case, then what was it that was keeping them from being able to have the same sort of abilities Akito had? He made a mental note to check that, the lineage that Elementals had. Sure, there was a one in five chance the person was to become one, as evidenced by his research so far. If there was a way they cold trap Trethaway and force the thing that had its clutches on him out and get some sampling done with it…

_Then we'd be able to prove the existence of Elementals and that it shouldn't be kept a secret from everyone, _Nathan thought. He exchanged a glance with his best friends and the two men looked back at him, appearing just as anxious.

All they had to do was figure out the identity of what had Trethaway and move on from there.

"So what does the Element stone of light have to do with it?" Ruriko asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"If it reacted when this fellow came around, then there's a good chance that it would have an adverse affect against the powers of light," Akito continued. "Light is creation. Darkness is the space necessary to create." He paused. "Though what I faced didn't just have the power of darkness, it was stronger than anything I could have ever imagined."

Ruriko sat up straight. "Did it have a name?"

"It never said." Akito shook his head. "It was just…there….the sinister feeling that came from it was something that could never be rivaled. No matter how hard I tried to fight it off, and I was pretty strong at the time, I couldn't do much damage to it. It had almost every element anyone could think of. It was like it was reading my thoughts." He cleared his throat. "If you kids are going to get mixed up in this, then you're going to want more people on your side."

Christian slapped his hand against the table, emitting a loud crack that caused the girls to jump and glare at him. He gave a sheepish smile, holding his hands up defensively, then sobered up and turned serious once more. "Then maybe that's what we need," Christian said. "To create things that'll be able to scan the abilities that an Elemental has, to determine how strong they are."

Reed pointed at him. "Or to see who is more likely to become one."

Kristen's eyebrows lowered in disbelief. "Do you really think that's possible?"

"I didn't think any of this was possible up until it started to happen," Nathan said to her. He bobbed his head back and forth. "Until we found the existence. But maybe that was the point, that we were supposed to find it."

"Everything happens for a reason," Akito agreed. He closed the scarf back over the Element stone and enclosed his hands over it. It shone brightly as he continued to hold onto it, the light going from the stone to his hands. He juggled the ball of light back and forth for a few moments before closing his hand once more. "And I'll be glad to answer more of your questions, but I'd like to get some of this food first."

"No worries," Reed said quickly. "We have all the time in the world."

_Maybe not that long, _Nathan thought, picking up his spoon and dunking it into the broth that was in his bowl. _Maybe not long at all. _

* * *

**A/N: **I know it seems like this 'look into the past' chapter came kind of quickly, but now that I have things planned out better it'll come between the chapters with Zack, Cody, and Bailey before starting the cycle over again. And as they go on you'll get a better look at Christian, Kristen, Reed, Ruriko, and Nathan and how their lives started to change with the existence of Elementals, which had started to be seen here.

So there's no confusion, after this chapter Ruriko is going to be referred to as Renee (as in, when she's mentioned I'll write her by that name) but will be called Ruriko depending on those around her that are speaking to her.

Cheers,

-Riles


	11. Time is of the essence

CHAPTER TEN

* * *

"So why do _I_ have to be the one that has to be hooked up to the machine like this?" Zack's eyes shifted back and forth as a bunch of electrodes were placed on his temples and on his chest. "I mean, Cody's the one that understands how all of this works." He reached out, pointing towards his twin brother, who sat at the back of the room with the rest of his friends, watching intently. "Why not get him to do it?"

"For the reason that you just said, Zack," Julius replied. He moved back from Zack's side, holding onto a few more electrodes. At his side, Maddie was holding onto a metal tray that held a single syringe as well. His lips curled in the corner. "Cody understands what this is meant for and will be of better help to us if something goes wrong."

Zack's eyes widened. "What do you mean if something goes wrong?"

"Like, your head blows up," Patrick commented. "Or your have an allergic reaction to the drugs in the syringe. Or you become so paranoid that you start to attack us with your powers." He shrugged. "Hate to be the bearer of bad news, mate, but we have to think of all of the possible outcomes."

"Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome."

Julius rolled his eyes and continued to stick the rest of the electrodes to Zack's chest, stomach, and arms before placing what appeared to be a chip clip onto his finger. As Zack continued to take steady breaths, the machine that was set up to monitor his heart beat started to rhythmically increase and decrease the beeping that resonated.

"Relax, Zack," Maddie said gently. She picked up the syringe and carefully flicked the tip before glancing over at Diamond and Christian, who sat by computers, watching them intently. "This is just going to make you calm down. It's not going to hurt you or anything." She moved it close to his arm. "It's just going to make sure that you don't accidentally hurt us."

"OK." Zack nodded.

Maddie pricked his skin and gently slid the needle into his arm, and pushed the plunger down, allowing the medicine to fall into his system. Zack's eyelashes fluttered and his breathing become steady, his heart beat slowing down as he did so. Maddie nodded to Julius, who took the syringe and metal plate from her. He walked back over to his uncle and stood behind him, hands on the back of his chair.

"Do you think this is going to work?" He asked.

Christian tilted his head over to Sydney and Aaron, who both held onto clipboard. "Ask them, they were the ones that got the idea."

"Bailey helped," Aaron said honestly. "And while it was something that we already should have done, it just brings up a theory." He turned around so that he could face all of the elementals. "Dad, Kristen, Reed, Renee, and Core have all faced this before. They've researched elementals and have faced so much about it before, the information they gathered all being stored in Crystal's computer."

"Yeah," Noah said, resting his hand on his hip. He flicked hi long hair from his face. "It's been something that's helped a lot." He crossed his arms. "Even when we couldn't find anything in Dad's office while we were back in Oz."

Sydney held up a finger. "Ever think that was done on purpose?" He smirked when his siblings exchanged glances. "Apparently not." He cleared his throat. "We all know that our Dad was really famous in the scientific world back in Australia, hence why people knew our family so well. He had a lot of essays and dissertations and publications and awards and yet, no one batted an eye when Mum became a teacher."

"So, then I thought about Dad and Kristen," Aaron continued. "Same idea. At first Kristen worked as Dad's assistant before she went on to do her own thing and Dad went into the limelight while Kristen decided to stay out of the limelight. Thus making Core, Dad, and Reed a target. But a target of what exactly?"

Sydney took up the story again. "We were told by Zhane that Halo Syndicate was what had gone after them, putting the bombs in our house and in Aunt Kristen's car. But, at the time, Zhane was being taken over by Gattaca, though we know that Gattaca is a good person. What if Gattaca wasn't really the one that had taken him over? What if it was something they had encountered before and traversed through worlds to get back at them?"

Christian made a yelping sound then moved a hand over his mouth as all eyes turned to him. There was a look of pure shock and terror in his blue eyes. As he continued to sit there, he started to tremble before shaking his head then running both hands over his face.

"Daddy?" Crystal moved to her father's side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Are you OK?"

"I'm sure the fact that all of this was linked together isn't helping much," Sydney said with an expression of sympathy. He was chewing his bottom lip, shuffling his feet. Glancing over at his siblings, he could see they had nearly the same reaction that Christian had. Their expressions ranged from apathy, to pure fury, to sadness. Even he could feel a tidal wave of depression start to creep its way through his body but he refused to think about it.

In fact, he tried his hardest not to have what happened to his parents infiltrate his thoughts too much. In a way, he was lucky that he hadn't gotten to know them before they had passed. It didn't hurt as much, sure he had to grow up really fast, he relied his on his brothers and sisters more than any other person would to their siblings, and the lack of parental guidance showed up every once in a while. At least it didn't hurt too much.

/_You know that's not true_/ SpiritSaru denied. /You care just as much as they do, if not more, because of that very reason._ /_

_/Yeah, but it's not going to do me any good by dwelling on it/ _Sydney replied. /_Especially when feelings like that do nothing but give our darkness a greater chance of growing_/.

"Which brought us back to our prophecy," Aaron said.

"Wait a minute." Cody held up a hand. He motioned back and forth between himself and his twin brother. "I thought we had fulfilled the prophecy with the fight against Mother Nature," He said. "When we had used the Element stones to give to me and Zack, when we made the sword of light." He then recited it from memory, "_The one with the eyes red as fire, the one with the eyes shocking as sea, the ones whose inheritance the white pure blade. To voyage eighteen years from since they'd come, or the world in their hands would cease to become__._"

"Didn't it have to do with Zack's and Cody's eighteenth birthday?" Tapeworm questioned. "It makes the most sense, they just turned, the created the white blade."

"No one ever said that it had to do with their eighteenth birthday," Aaron pointed out gently. "Just that I had to be eighteen years later."

"So it might have to do with around the time they were born in general, yeah?" Riley said. She pushed herself off the wall she had been resting against, next to Tapeworm, and glanced at him before zeroing in on her baby brother. "Does it mean eighteen years after Mum's and Dad's first interaction with elementals in general?"

Sydney nodded. "I'd say so." He pointed at Christian and then at Crystal, who continued to comfort her father, rubbing his back and shoulders as she laid her head on his. He sat in what resembled a catatonic state, face still in his hands. "They were all twenty-one or twenty-two around the time that happened, so eighteen years after that, Mum and Dad would have been about thirty-nine or forty."

"Just like Uncle Christian," Aaron said. "And if Reed and Renee had Sydney when they were thirty-three, that means that this should have happened when he was at least seven years old, when Patrick and Noah were twelve, when Riley, Rhuben, Crystal, Zack, Cody, Bailey, Max, and Tapeworm were fourteen."

"So when we first awakened," Zack said. His fingers fluttered at his sides and his feet would periodically bang together. Probably to be sure they were still there. As relaxed as he was, he still didn't like being strapped to a cold table and used in some sort of an experiment where he wasn't sure of the adverse effects of it.

"Exactly."

Bailey scratched the back of her head. It was still hard for her to think about what they had been doing since they were fourteen. When she was fourteen years old, she was working on the farm; doing her daily chores, dating Moose whenever she got the chance, hanging out with her friends, tending to the animals, and doing it all over again the next day. When she wasn't in school, leaning as much of the world as she could, she was working the farm. Then there were these guys, who had gone through so much more than she could ever imagine within that year alone as opposed to when she had met them.

She remembered the first day she had figured out what elementals were. Koto and Reihu had attacked the ship under the rules of Wingz Corp…then all of that had been thrown out the water and they continued to get more questions than answers at every turn they took.

"Which brings me to my theory," Aaron said. "That the prophecy would have been fulfilled and the two worlds would have gone back to their regular harmonious lives…if they were still alive."

Zack shifted his arms and legs once more. His body was beginning to grow numb. He could feel his wrists and ankles that were tied to the bed, start to lose its blood circulation. There was so much he could handle, but not this. He was starting to get cold and when he got cold, he got almost as sluggish as he did when there was a lot of sunlight. He soaked up the sunlight and heat and became lazy in a way that was comfortable, when it was due to the colder weather, it started to get dangerous.

He had toughened up, when it came to the winters in Boston, if it wasn't for the fact that he had lived there long enough before he awakened to get used to it. But this was starting to feel bad.

"Guys, can we move along here, please?" He asked. "I'm starting to lose feeling in my hands."

Diamond, had not reacted to anything that had been said. He continued to sit in his seat, waiting for his cue to start the machines. However, when Zack spoke, he moved into action. "We should get started on this experiment sooner rather than later," he advised. "Time is of the essence."

"I hope so, mate," Sydney agreed. He nodded at Aaron and then turned back to his eldest brother and Maddie. "Could you please turn on the machines and stand back here?" He waved an arm back towards his friends.

"You got it." Julius and Maddie made sure the electrodes were put in place then flipped the switch on the machines that were sitting behind Zack and backed up to the other side of the room. Aaron then made a motion to Diamond and he pressed something on the monitor that sat in front of him. He then reached over and did the same to Christian's computer, glancing at him.

He still appeared to be shaken by the news that his nephew and adopted son had come up with. Nevertheless, he sat up straight, gently patting his daughter on the hand, and then watched Zack, periodically looking at the monitor as well.

"His vitals are OK," Diamond relayed.

"Good." Aaron nodded.

"So what is it that we're testing, exactly?" Rhuben questioned. She shoved her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and leaned forward, lips slightly pursed. She watched their leader continue to lie on the metal board, eyes narrowing slightly.

"Are you going to test the limit of his power with the stone?" Reihu added. He had been sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around his knees. Every now and then he would run a hand over his face, as if he were grooming himself. "Don't you think that would be the last thing you'd want to test out? Wouldn't you rather see what the limit of the power would be, figuratively, by taking a blood sample or something?" He briefly shook his head. "That's what Core did with us."

There was a low, growl that had started to come from his chest, this one of anger. He had been taken as a kid and was tested upon by Core to be infused with the ability of an animal and it was the only life he had known. Every now and then he would allow himself to try and remember what his life had been like before, but then he would push it away and focus on his task at hand. Now that things had been turned around for him, now that he knew the truth, he stated to think about it more often than he ever had before.

"I'm going to do that that," Sydney agreed. "And we're going to try and summon someone." He cleared his throat. "We hope. Unfortunately we don't know if this is going to come good or if we seriously mucked up."

"You won't know until you try," Cody pressed. Sydney nodded again. Cody then rubbed the back of his neck. "Just…be careful with my brother."

"Don't worry, buddy," Zack called reassuringly. "I'll be fine."

"If anything does go wrong, can we at least have him come back smarter?" Tapeworm joked.

"Yeah, maybe then we'd be able to get more done rather than suddenly get thrown off into a battle after battle before we get questions answered," Patrick agreed.

Zack rolled his eyes.

"If something were to happen with his powers we still have Riley, Cody, Crystal, and Julius to help calm him down in some way," Aaron reassured them. "And Maddie can help heal us if something else were to happen." He walked over to his father and stood at his side, watching as the levels on the computer screen started to rise. At the side, there levels that were shown started to break down and rearrange themselves in letters, numbers, and symbols that were then read out loud from a speaker for Aaron to hear. It was too fast for the others to understand what was being said, but he seemed engrossed in what was being fed to him.

"OK," Sydney took a deep breath and walked over to Zack, who continued to lie on his back. His hands started to glow a bright blue. "I'm going to use my powers to see if I can summon someone from the Element world that may be able to help us."

"I hope not Mother Nature," Riley remarked. She absentmindedly started to rub her arm. "That was bad enough when the portal had opened, who knows what'll happen when she gets back here." She shrugged. "Apart from worldwide chaos, yeah?"

"At this point I think the worldwide chaos is the best thing that could happen," Rhuben remarked. "I mean, all of this training has to be for something, right?"

"Shh." Sydney shushed them and closed his eyes, hovering his hands over Zack. "OK, Zack, I want you to concentrate on the power inside you, but do your absolute hardest not to use it. I just need you to tap into that power, yeah?"

"OK." Zack closed his eyes and swallowed thickly. His eyebrows started to twitch as he frowned in concentration.

What was it that made him tap into his powers so easily? The threat of danger to his loved ones of course. That was the main one. The other was harder, he had to reach deep inside him to get to the point where he could feel himself growing stronger. Before having gotten the Element stone he felt himself physically stronger he could feel the difference between the way he had been before he awakened. He was able to run faster, jump higher, lift weights a lot easier. It was especially hard for him not to show off with his new powers. The excitement had quickly faded when he realized how often he was attacked by anyone in WingzCorp and realizing the responsibility put in it. The first time Blazen had been directly attacked and he could feel what his guardian felt was mind blowing.

He had become more careful since then, but there was always a place for him, mentally, to go to when he needed to. Now that he had the power of the Element stone all of his senses had immediately increased. He felt different things than ever before; he became drastically aware of a shift in the direction the wind was blowing. His eyesight increased even further than when he was using the abilities that he shared with Blazen, he became highly aware of changes in temperature, and his strength had increased even further. (It was a good thing that things in the base they were staying at were equipped to handle high amounts of pressure or else he would have crushed many doorframes and door handles just by grabbing onto them).

With his eyes closed, everything was dark, and then Zack could see the fire before his eyes. The same fire he saw moments before he completely tapped into his power and sent walls of fire in all directions. This fire was different than previous ones, it was bigger and stronger and in the center of it was a single flame that glowed the brightest red. It was like a lifeline, the weaker he got in battle, his mind's eye could see the strength of that flame growing weaker as well. Only a few times had it become close to going out and those times had been after he would unleash one of his biggest attacks.

/_Zack_/ SpiritSaru's voice entered his head as well as _filled_ the room around him. /_You're going to see someone, but you shouldn't be scared of him. He's nice. He's someone who wants to help us._ /

/_OK/ _Zack replied.

/_If it's who I think it is he can really help us. /_ Blazen added. _/But I heard that he was only a myth, just someone that we all prayed to. /_

_/We have reason to believe he's someone we can really get in contact with/ _SpiritSaru continued. /_Even if only for a minute. But we don't know what will happen, so keep an eye out for Zack._ /.

/_Try and stop me_/ Blazen replied firmly.

The fire continued to swirl around Zack and a dark figure appeared in the flames, coming closer to him. The figure continued to move closer and closer to Zack and the flames started to slow in their movements. Their quick paced dances became as slow as a waltz as the figure continued to draw nearer. Zack's first reaction was for his body to tense and shoot out the nearest flame he could, but found he couldn't move. That must've been what the medicine was for.

"I was wondering when I'd see you, Child of Fire," the figure's voice filled Zack's head. "I was hoping it would be sooner rather than later, but I digress. The passage of time is trivial."

/_Who are you? / _Zack had to ask telepathically, having found that he couldn't move his mouth. Maybe that's what the medicine had been for. Or maybe it was a reaction to the way the figure had come to him. There had to be something spiritual about him, something that Sydney and SpiritSaru had obviously felt. There were blue wisps of light swirling around the figure and behind him; Zack could see a similar portal to that of what Mother Nature had created when the arboris crossed over.

"Do not be afraid," the figure said. "I have been waiting for all of you. Though I had hoped it would be under better circumstances. As it stands, there isn't enough time. You've found that there is great need for you all now more than ever." The figure went over to the bright red flame and cupped his hands around it. Even though it illuminated the figure, Zack still couldn't see its face. "I have been in contact with you humans before, some of which were very pleasant and deserved to know of my existence, and then there were others that had used it for evil."

The flames around Zack were almost at a standstill now. They were moving so slowly he could barely see the flicker of the light they gave off.

"I had tried to help before, but I've never been strong enough to make the journey. You should know that there is of the greatest danger coming your way. Even stronger than that of Mother Nature's power. Even that of mine." The bright light started to increase in luminosity, taking over the light of the flames. "Be forewarned, you need each other now more than ever. More questioned will be answered, more questions given, but in the right moment, things will turn out in the most unexpected way."

/_What does that mean? Who are you?_ /

Zack felt his eyelids flutter and the illusion was completely shattered. Opening his eyes, he watched as Sydney lowered his hands from above him, the bright blue glow rapidly dissipating. Cody moved to his brother's side and looked down at him in concern.

"Buddy, are you OK?" Cody asked voice hoarse. His eyes searched Zack's as he waited for his brother to answer him. Reaching out a hand, he placed it on Zack's shoulder, tightly holding onto him. His grip was cool, easily combating the heat that radiated off of Zack's.

"Did you guys hear the voices too?" Bailey asked.

"Couldn't miss it," Crystal agreed. "Sydney projected the voices into the room so we could tell what was going on."

"What was that flame that the guy was holding onto?" Tapeworm asked. He frowned in confusion. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"If our research stands by anything then it's the core of the Elemental's power," Aaron said. "But in this case that of a fire elemental. Just like the earth or the element world having a core that brings all of its energy."

Julius and Maddie walked up and took the electrodes off of Zack and allowed him to sit up. Zack ran his hands over his face as hard as he could. He needed to be sure he was still there. That he really could feel himself again. He then looked up at Cody and nodded at him. He was OK.

Cody smiled and nodded back.

"So what was that figure that we saw?" Rhuben's voice broke the silence. "I couldn't sense any darkness around it, but…I couldn't see its face." She frowned, that was the part that troubled her the most. She couldn't sense it and even the most pure hearted person had a little bit of darkness that she could feel.

Sydney's lips pressed together in a thin line as he crossed his arms. "That," he said. "Was Father Time."

He started to say more, but was cut off by a loud explosion rocking through the room, sending everyone off their feet.

* * *

**A/N: **Finally, the chapter that focused on Sydney and Aaron (and kinda Zack). Really, who else would be able to come up with something like this? Being able to (which I will explain later of course) take Father Time from the Element World into the real world so they can figure out how to finally fulfill the prophecy that has plagued them for the entirety of this trilogy.

Yeah, this chapter was dialogue driven, but it kind of needed to be that way, especially considering I like to keep you all in suspense. :) It may have been a bit confusing, my explanation for the prophecy, but I can explain it in a PM if it'd be easier.

I hope you guys liked it. I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles


	12. Maybe had had been his own downfall

CHAPTER ELEVEN

* * *

Cody immediately got to his feet and—literally—flew out of the room. As soon as he was at the door, he focused on the part of him that would take on the characteristics of his guardian and allowed his wings to push up through his shoulder blades and unfurl from his back. He rocketed off down the hallways, holding out his hand and calling out his staff as he did so.

He didn't have to look behind him to know his friends were following along behind him at incredibly speeds as well. His mind raced with a million thoughts. What was it that had attacked them? What were they going to face this time? And more importantly, how was Father Time going to help them with everything? They had already thought Mother Nature was someone who could help, but she had been angered by the way humans treated their world for years that she tried to destroy it and them in the process.

Even while briefly closing his eyes, he could still see the massive portal opening up in the sky, allowing all of her arboris to come between worlds. It was mesmerizing, to see the blue sky open and being able to see the blackness of space for a moment, right before he was able to see the Element World in the flesh. He could only sit and watch the majestic sight for a moment before pandemonium exploded around him. It was the toughest fight he had ever had to face and he was surprised he hadn't been killed, having been on a coma for a couple of days afterwards. His friends had all suffered various injuries as well, nearing them to death. If it wasn't' for their enhanced strength and imperviousness to some of the more common ways to injure yourself, he was sure they would have been dead by the time they had turned fifteen.

If not constantly questioned about the bruises and cuts their bodies would have sustained while in school. It was funny how much his mind had wandered and he moved in autopilot while he had been fighting the arboris, while trying to get to Mother Nature as she continued to wreak havoc around her. He thought about school, the university he was going to go to, what was going to happen if they didn't defeat her, what would happen if they did. Anything but having the fight he was currently in on his mind and he had to admit, that had been his fatal flaw and he probably would have died if his friends hadn't been around him to help out.

He wasn't like Zack, he couldn't jump straight in and attack without some sort of strategy. He had to think things through. Maybe had had been his downfall.

He had that same thought as he entered a large holding area after blasting through a 'Do Not Enter' and 'Authorized Personnel Only' sign covered door and spotted something strange. The men that had been working inside, scientists, researchers, and those that were testing out the products they were creating. With a rapid movement of his eye he spotted machine guns, filled beakers with smoke pouring out of the top, metal pipes that had wires sticking out from the top that had been worked on, and floor to ceiling glass tubes filled with liquid of different colors. They had all been abandoned by the men and women that had been working on them, who were now being flung around by some invisible force.

As he watched, he could see the screaming scientists and weapon technicians flail their arms and legs as they were picked up and flung across the room.

All of a sudden he could hear a disembodied voice, "I was wondering when I would see you. You've managed to destroy my plans for years."

"And we're about to do it again," Zack said, landing at Cody's side, his wings gently brushing against his brother's in a comforting gesture. His eyes were moving around, trying to find the source of the voice.

A young scientist that had managed to take cover under a desk rolled out and started to run towards the group of Elementals. He let out a bloodcurdling scream as he suddenly halted in his tracks, eyes wide. Then his hands moved up to his neck as he started to choke, face turning purple. With a rush of energy that everyone in the room could feel, he was flung backwards, further into the room.

Julius leapt forward on top of his guardian; the cheetah named Rudin, and snatched the man out of the air, stopping before they crashed into the back wall. The hold that was on the young scientist was released and Rudin gently, gracefully lowered himself to the ground.

"Good to see that your sense of right and wrong is still intact. Though I'd like to think that it's not something that'll stick around then things get tough."

"That doesn't matter," Patrick declared. "No matter what happens we always try to do our best to do what we think is right."

"Right for you, but it might not be right for everyone else."

"Why don't you quit being a coward and show yourself?" Crystal snarled.

The voice ignored her. "Have you ever thought about your sticking around so much? Have you thought of how much destruction and death you've caused with your actions over the past couple of years? Those buildings that fell down…the attacks that you shot out at whoever you were attacking…the ones that missed…those poor, poor people that couldn't evacuate when they were told to..."

Cody felt his blood ran cold. It was something he had never allowed himself to think about and now that the voice was telling them the fears they hadn't focused on. How many people had been killed? How many people had their lives taken away from them in a matter of seconds when it surely wasn't their time? Judging by the thick tension that had suddenly filled the room, he knew the others had been thinking the same thing to varying degrees.

He glanced at Noah out of the corner of his eye, who was standing directly at his left. He had summoned his weapon, his large hammer, and was periodically loosening and tightening his grip as the seconds passed. Judging by the expression on his face, he could see that he didn't recognize the voice either.

Cody didn't understand why he would have thought that Noah would recognize it. Maybe because he had been so into the Elemental World and Elementals long before Cody had. He was starting to feel like he did when he had first met the Jacksons.

He remembered that day almost perfectly. He had Zack had come out of the elevator and were going to go to Tapeworm's house to play video games with him and Max and they had noticed the entire raven haired family looking around at the magnificence of the hotel. Of course Zack had been quick to zero in on—and get comically turned down by—Riley, though he took it in stride. Cody, on the other hand, had been nice and polite and friendly and all he had gotten back was silence, short answers, and cold looks. In school it wasn't that much better until one day he and Zack had been walking back to the hotel after school and had seen them fighting Koto and Reihu.

He had and Zack had wanted to help fight them off and found themselves quickly at a disadvantage, getting beaten up a lot quicker than they thought they would be. Nothing had been out of the ordinary there, other than the secrets that had been swirling around them. Next thing he knew, he was going to the library, got attacked by Reihu again, and Rhuben had appeared out of nowhere, knocking him back, before placing a hand on his forehead and awakening him. He remembered the intense confusion and mystery that surrounded the new powers and abilities he had as well as the overwhelming fear.

Things had gotten better when Max and Tapeworm had been awakened and when he met Crystal, things had gotten even stranger, though clearer at the same time. Pun intended.

And now, it was all being crushed all over again.

He wasn't going to wait anymore.

If they were going to get answers, they were going to get them now.

"Water of the Soul!" Cody held his staff out in front of him and it glowed a bright blue before all of the energy focused in the blue orb that rested on top. It glowed brighter and brighter and he moved it out in front of him. "Tsunami!"

"Crystal Freeze!" Crystal cried, extending her hands.

"Thunder Crash!" Patrick added, lifting his hand to the sky and then swiftly lowering it back down.

A great burst of water erupted from the blue gem on Cody's staff and shot towards the center of the room, mixing in with Crystal's ice attack and Patrick's thunder attack. The lightning wrapped around water and shot forward, powering a large block of ice into the center of the room. He had no idea what to expect, but it was anything but the block of ice, water, and electricity to be shot directly back at them.

"Flamethrower!" Zack, Riley, and Julius called in unison, sending a wall of flame at the weapon, turning it to steam before he could be harmed.

_This is going to be harder than we thought. _Cody turned to look at Zack, who was staring ahead, lips pressed together in intense concentration and anxiety. Cody could sense that he was starting to get scared, if it was something this powerful that could blow their combined attacks back as if he had just sneezed _and _was invisible; this was going to be difficult. Glancing behind him, Cody could see Riley, Rhuben, Sydney, Aaron, Bailey, Tapeworm, Julius, and Maddie all had expressions that were varying degrees of anticipation.

Diamond and Christian stood behind them, both carrying large assault rifles. It was weird for him to see, someone using a regular weapon to try and defeat someone who could probably rip it out of their hands and turn it back against them.

Cody's movement must have grabbed the voice's attention, for it suddenly turned sinister. "You!" The voice bellowed so loud, causing everyone to slam their hands over their ears. "You were the one that foiled my plans all those years ago! You filthy human aren't going to get away with it!"

Crystal and Aaron moved in front of their father, to block him from the figure. Glancing back at him, Cody could see the recognition in the older man's face. Confused, Cody started to turn back to the figure, but stopped when he spotted Bailey staring at the man. Her red hair was fanned around her face, hiding her eyes from him, but he could still see from her body language that she was shaking. Did she recognize him, too? When she reached up to push her hair back from her face he could see in her eyes that she did, indeed, know who this guy was.

_How does she know that? _Cody finally turned back to face forward. Glancing over at Zack, he could see his twin brother had done the same, only he had an expression like Bailey's and Christian's. _Has Zack seen him before? In a dream? Maybe when he had been put under by Sydney._

The figures eyes then moved to the Jacksons and his eyes narrowed even further. "You…"

"Who _are _you?" Tapeworm demanded.

In sudden flashes of light, their guardians appeared at their sides in their human forms. Phantom stood by Cody, releasing an aura of liquid calm, much like he always did whenever Cody tapped into Phantom's power if not his own power of water in general. His sharp eyes were focused entirely on the figure in front of them.

"We thought he was an urban legend," Ursa said. "No one knew for sure he existed."

"You said the same thing about Mother Nature and Father Time," Noah reminded him. "Unless it was Geneva and Gattaca that you said that about." He couldn't remember. There were too many things for them to keep straight. Especially when their questions were answered and more questions were thrown into the mix.

"Actually answering our question would be great, right about now," Patrick said with an air of impatience.

"This is Uriel," Christian said. He tightened his fingertips on the rifle, reminding himself to remove his hand from the trigger. There was no need to randomly fire at this guy when he had shown off his ability to knock even some of the stronger Elementals willy-nilly. Then again, Zack and Cody hadn't used their ultimate powers since the fight with Mother Nature, who knew what power he had if he could knock that back as well. "He's the one that placed the curse on Akito."

The corner of Uriel's mouth slowly curled up. "Ah, yes, that young man that thought he could defeat me by himself." He flicked his long black hair out of his face. "That was one of my more memorable fights. On that took longer than I anticipated." He looked over at Julius. "I sense that some of you are weaker than others, so this should be interesting for me." His eyes then moved over to Bailey.

Cody felt the instant instinct to move over and protect her. They hadn't talked much since their last fight and that was the problem. They needed to be able to talk to each other about what had caused them to break up, the words they exchanged, and whether or not they had feelings for each other still. It was one of the reasons he had left Boston when he had gotten the chance. He had to runaway and see what was left of him, Cody Martin, not of Cailey as everyone on the SS Tipton had dubbed them, even before they had started dating. He needed to know what he was and what he could do.

Even if it jeopardized what they had.

Before he could move to Bailey's side to shield her, Geneva and Gattaca both stood in front of their ward and Cody could see how they were considered the rulers of the Element World. They way they stood shoulder to shoulder gave them a regal air and they gazed at Uriel as if he was a peasant, the very bottom of the totem pole.

Uriel gazed back at them and an evil ambience filled the room; dark and cold. "I see you now feel that you need to protect these humans."

"We've protected them the same we protect our families," Dricer said.

"And we're not going to let you destroy them or their world," DalFang agreed.

With that, Riley, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Tapeworm, and Crystal all charged towards Uriel.

Riley reached him first and with a cry of, "Crimson Scorpion", her chain sickle appeared in her hand. She threw it at Uriel and he deflected it with his arm, causing her to tug on the chain and pull it back towards her. As she did so, she pulled back a flaming left fist and swung it forward. Uriel grabbed onto her hand and the flames covering her arm immediately disappeared. He swung her arm left and lifted his foot, kicking her in the stomach. When she doubled over, he brought up his knee and hit her in the face before lifting her up and throwing her into the computers at the other side of the room, where she collided with it, sending sparks everywhere as she fell to the floor.

"Riley!" Zack called.

Uriel brought up his hand and a wave of smoke halted Patrick and Noah in their tracks. It moved around them in a thick cloud, covering them from view, though their horrible screams could be heard before they were blasted apart from each other and falling heavily on the ground.

"Spirits!" Sydney raised his hands high in the air and they started to glow a bright blue. His staff then appeared in his hand, coming from the blue light. He grabbed onto it and swung it once. Sydney moved his staff in a circle, creating a large arc as he walked towards his brother and sisters, creating a dome around them. "Kazuki, Kazuaki." Two, white, snake-like creatures appeared beside him, floating in the air, their little legs were holding onto energy orbs. Sydney then held up his staff. "Non envisibis."

A light fog appeared around the room and Sydney took the chance to run towards Uriel. "Psychic Spirits! Psy beam!" A purple-black beam appeared out the end of his staff and shot towards Uriel. It hit him directly in the chest and he absorbed it and sent it back to the younger Elemental. "Spirit Shield!" Sydney quickly formed a shield around himself but when the reverberated attack hit the shield, the shield broke into a million shards, striking Sydney with his own power.

He fell back to the ground.

Kazuki and Kazuaki floated around the dome Sydney created and glowed a bright blue, almost white, causing the dome to create the same shade as Sydney walked inside it. To anyone that passed by, they wouldn't see anything but broken glass in the main hall, but if they tried to walk through the dome, they would be unable to and be forced to move around it.

Tapeworm created vines and shot them toward Uriel, but Uriel conjured his own and knocked Tapeworm's out of the way, ripping through them like steel and lashed him across the face, chest, and shoulders, knocking him out. Crystal conjured her bow and arrow and started to fire them at Uriel's vines, freezing the tips of a few of them, but that had backfired as she was then struck with the vines that pierced her skin. Uriel then brought up his hands and shot a stream of fire at her, knocking her back as well.

Everyone had been knocked out quicker than any of the other people they had fought before. Julius, Maddie, and Aaron continued to stand in front of Diamond and Christian, wonder what to do. If the others had been beaten so easily…

_No. _Cody clenched his hands into fists. _We can't let him win so easily._

Uriel then appeared bored. He had defeated the Elementals so quickly. What was he going to do now? Killing them would be too easy and not as fun. Watching them squirm, seeing the helplessness in their eyes was enough to want to keep them around as long as he could stand.

"You're not going to fucking win," Zack swore. "We won't let you, you bastard."

Uriel raised an eyebrow. "I have often heard you humans refer to this as fate or destiny. Only the weak utter such nonsense." Uriel's eyes started to glow a dull, demonic red that froze everyone in their tracks. "It is different for the truly powerful: they create this so-called destiny with their own hands!" He opened his hands and a hard gust of wind blew out.

Cody anticipated this and with a quick wipe of his wing against Zack's, the two leapt up high into the air as their friends were knocked to the ground, blasted backwards by the sudden energy shot against them. Uriel tilted his head back and glared at the boys as they headed towards him. Uriel brought his hands up and vines shot out of his hands, wrapping around them and slamming them down to the floor. All of the wind was knocked out of him and Cody lay still on the ground, his head turned to the side.

There was a loud roar and Reihu leapt overhead, turned into his lion form, pouncing on top of Uriel. He raked a paw against Uriel's front and was suddenly blown to the side by a swipe of Uriel's arm. He crashed to the ground and got up, leaping at him again.

"Darkness Atom Bomb!" Rhuben, who had gotten back to her feet, lobbed the large ball of darkness over to Uriel and hit him directly in the chest, where Reihu had gotten him before. Instead of falling to his knees, screaming with pain, Uriel watched as the ball of darkness slowly shrunk in size as it pushed its way into him.

_No, not into him, _Cody reasoned. He was still prone to the ground, trying to get his wind back. _He's absorbing it._

Uriel's eyes widened slightly and a ball of pure black darkness rocketed out of him and struck Rhuben in the chest. She screamed as she was suddenly flung off her feet and up into the air, crashing high into the wall above them.

"Rhu!" Sydney called for his sister.

Reihu, who had crashed down onto Uriel's back at the exact moment he attack the Elemental of Darkness, plowed the man into the ground and used him as a springboard to leap up into the air. He caught his girlfriend against his back and stretched his paws out, landing on the wall and used it to push himself around, landing in the rafters. He turned back into his human form and wrapped an arm around Rhuben's waist, holding her up as she shook her head. One look into her eyes and he could see the blueness starting to deepen into a black color.

Turning back, Reihu held out a hand. "Judgment of Hades!" He pointed to the ground then at Uriel. A black wave of energy flew towards him, rapidly increasing and turning into a wall of dark flames as it went.

"Dark Darts!" Rhuben added; sending bullets of darkness energy at Uriel like a machine gun.

The two attacks flew towards Uriel but he lifted a hand and waved it to the side. The attacks veered off course and crashing into a wall, blasting a hole into it. Uriel sent another wave of invisible energy at the rafters and they broke, sending Reihu and Rhuben crashing to the ground beneath them.

Uriel turned his attention to Christian. "Now to finish off what I've started years ago." He steadily walked towards him. Julius, Bailey, Maddie, and Aaron continued to back up, until they were a few inches right in front of Diamond and Christian. They could try and fire off the guns now, but what if he could control metal and shoot the bullets into the others? What if he could turn the gun around on them and they were forced to shoot themselves? "Don't bother running."

Uriel reached out a hand, palm up, facing the group in front of them.

Julius steeled himself, Rudin at his side, ready to pounce.

Uriel continued to move closer and when he was only a few feet away, Aaron suddenly glowed a brilliant white light that shot out in front of him. Uriel screeched in pain and backed away from the group, moving to the other side of the room. Enraged, he turned to one of the scientists that continued to lie on the ground; he was knocked out, but still alive, chest rising and falling.

Uriel had to make a point.

Reaching out, Uriel grabbed the scientist by the throat and held him up, arm outstretched. He tightened his grip, fingers pressing hard into the man's neck. As the Elementals watched in horror the man's eyes widened as far as they could show, emitting a bright light. As the light dimmed from his eyes, a ball of light appeared at his chest. When it was finally out, the eyes went completely dark, eyelids fell down, and the head lolled forward. Dead.

Uriel threw him aside and pressed the ball into his own chest and instead of throwing it back at the Elementals, he kept it inside him, slowly smiling, his sharp canines poke out between his lips. "I will not kill you... I will break you. Try as you might, your efforts are in vain. I shall never die!"

And as quickly as he had appeared he was gone.

Cody continued to lay on the ground, pushing himself so that he rolled onto his back, arm lying across his stomach. He sucked in slow, deliberate breaths, his mind trying to wrap around everything that happened. When he closed his eyes, he flashed back to the fight with Mother Nature once more. He had learned so much about himself in that fight and the months afterwards.

But now he wasn't what they had learned other than Uriel was going to be a lot tougher than anyone they had ever fought and that thought scared him most of all.

* * *

**A/N: **Getting into Cody's thoughts with this chapter was kind of subtle, but I hope, if what I was trying to show was noticed, it was done well.

And now they've (finally) had their first experience with the 'big bag' that had been plaguing everyone for years. Does anyone have a guess as to what the power he has? I'm hoping it'll make sense for the story.

If you want to visualize the shadow hunters, picture the shadow heartless from Kingdom Hearts and you get the basic idea. And if you want to visualize Uriel, and then picture Naraku from Inuyasha, it was the best thing I could think of at the time. (Speaking of, I borrowed one of Naraku's quotes in this chapter, so I don't own that).

And to answer your question from your last review, owlhero, most of the Elementals stuff that Rhu, Crys, and I come up with is either influenced from anime, action movies, superhero movies, a bit of sci-fi, and our own imagination; especially considering when we first started writing our suite life/elementals stories (back in 2005) most of our stuff have a _heavy _Japanese influence. Which is also partially why the Jacksons and Crystal are part Japanese.

Cheers,

-Riles


	13. Your time has come

CHAPTER TWELVE

* * *

Bailey turned the page of her book though she couldn't concentrate on any of the words. Lying alone on her bed in her quarters—as it was called—she was doing her best to keep herself busy. The others had gone to the infirmary to be checked out while she had quietly retreated to her room. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to get Uriel's haunting voice out of her head, the sheer horror she felt when his eyes appeared out of thin air without a body.

And what he had done to that scientist…

Hands shaking, Bailey briefly placed her book down on the mattress before running them over her face. She continued to quiver; fingers placidly brushing over a tear that cautiously nestled itself in the crook of her eye, threatening to spill over and leave a salty river down her cheek. Each breath was more difficult to draw in than the last, invisible fingers reaching out and closing off her airway.

_What if Uriel was in the room with me right now? Would I know? Would I see what was coming right before my death?_

"You've seen him before haven't you? I know you have."

Bailey looked up from the book she had been reading—one of the few ones the base supplied for them—and blinked blankly at Crystal, as she leaned against the doorway. When the blue eyed girl didn't continue even further, Bailey made a show of marking her spot in the book and sitting up, swinging her legs to the ground. "Look…I don't know anything more than you guys—"

"Bullshit," Crystal interrupted, her eyes flashing.

She walked further into Bailey's room and sat down on the empty bed across from her. The bed that would have been Max's if she had still been alive. Bailey noted that while Tapeworm had gotten better about talking about his deceased girlfriend, the others continued to act as if it hadn't happened. Whenever her name was mentioned, everyone else seemed to clam up, though for entirely different reasons.

Leaning forward, the raven haired girl placed her hands on the edge of the bed lowering her voice. Instinctively, Bailey took on the same stance; who knew the sort of listening devices the government had put into each of the rooms without their knowledge. "You've been around long enough to know things are revealed to us at even the weirdest times," Crystal said. "And to know we have a habit of keeping secrets from each other until things get to the point where we have to say something." She shrugged. "My cousins and I are basically the ones that wrote the rules on keeping secrets."

Bailey noticed an amused look flash over Crystal's face before she became serious once more. "Did that ever help you? It's basically like you're cutting yourself off form everyone else."

"In a way it does," Crystal said. "It gives us time to figure out what to do, the best course of action. On the other hand it's something that can be a real disadvantage." A glint moved through Crystal's eyes and Bailey was sure she had seen her pupils shift slightly; much like a cat's eye would narrow when focused on something. "And I can tell you now, keeping what you know a secret is just going to get us killed."

Bailey sighed loudly, turning away from the ice powered teenage girl. What was she supposed to say? Would the information she know really help them when there really wasn't much to say in the first place? She was starting to learn things along with the others. She hadn't known much about Geneva and Gattaca until they had basically become a part of them, she didn't know about Mother Nature more than what the bearers of light and darkness could tell them as she was, indeed, their mother. Even Tapeworm had managed to learn more about Element World and what Mother Nature did to rule her kingdom and that had been through a dream.

_But then again, they do say that dreams are what you subconscious are trying to tell you, _Bailey thought. _It's probably not a mistake that our dreams are portals to another world. Even if we're only getting there mentally. _She ran a hand through her hair. "Uriel…just like the guardians were saying…was considered a myth before," she said under her breath. "An urban legend. Something no one expected to be real." She waved a hand. "It's like…the ghost stories we tell at a campfire."

Crystal tilted her head to the side. "Yeah, but these are based off truths as opposed to wanting to scare little kids half to death." Her lips stretched into a ghost of a smile. "Though I have to admit freaking Cody out with them is something the rest of us find to be highly entertaining."

Bailey laughed. "I don't blame you," she said. "He's smart, can find a solution to practically anything, isn't afraid to face whatever enemy comes his way…and yet /he still hates ghost stories."

"Yeah, well, everyone has their vices." Crystal ran her hand through her hair. "And mine's my Dad." Her face softened a little. "As long as it's been just me and him, I've taken care of him just as much as he's taken care of me. Everything that's been going on recently, while we've been to all of the conventions and conferences, it's been taking a toll on him." Her hands tightened into fists and they shook slightly. "Especially considering it's getting close to the anniversary…having that guy come back..." she shook her head. "And hearing what Father Time had to say…I'm worried about him."

Bailey slowly nodded, looked directly into Crystal's eyes. If there was anything that she didn't know about her family and someone else knew how to help them, she would want to know everything. _Great. _As soon as the thought entered her head she felt nothing but the cold wave of guilt spread through her body like pinpricks from ice water. In fact, she even found herself starting to shiver even though the room had been warm a couple of minutes ago. It wasn't until she saw her breath starting to fog in front of her face that she realized what was going on.

Eyes narrowing slightly, she turned her gaze back to Crystal, who sat calmly in front of her. Bailey's eyes lowered and she noticed that her hands were glowing blue. "I'd hope that you can understand how important it is that I get an answer from you," She said calmly.

Bailey made a face, brining her hands up and starting to blow on them. "All you had to do was ask."

Crystal smiled and her hands lost their glow; Bailey immediately felt her body temperature start to rise once more. "Just hoping to get my point across." She stood up and grabbed onto the blanket behind her. Picking it up, she opened it and carefully wrapped it around Bailey's shoulders, tucking the fabric around her hands. Her movements were gentle and soothing as she made sure the red-head teenage girl was completely covered.

Watching her with surprise, Bailey hunched up in the blanket. She had seen the two sides of Crystal so many times before; being a sort of mother figure in their group of friends as she told the young boys to stay out of trouble and the older boys to stop doing something stupid, then ruthlessly turn around and viciously attack anyone that got in her way when the time came.

"You don't like me do you?" Bailey suddenly blurted. She had felt nothing but tension from the ice bearer since she had been introduced to the Canadian girl. Part of her knew it was because she didn't want to be held responsible for the danger Bailey could put herself in as she didn't have any powers herself, the other part of her knew it more than likely had to do with the fact that both of them had dated Cody and that he and Crystal hadn't broken up on good terms.

Crystal's right eyebrow rose. "Whether or not I like you has nothing to do with what's going on." She took a step back and sat down on the edge of her bed once more, crossing her leg at the knee. "Make sure you keep rubbing your hands together; your hands and feet are where your body loses heat the quickest."

Bailey did as she was told. The two sat in silence for a while, but this time, the silence wasn't uncomfortable or tense in the slightest. Bailey had to remember that not only had the girl lost her mother, but she had, in a way, lost her father too. He clearly wasn't the same sort of man he had been before he lost his wife. He put a lot of his time into his work, much like her own father did.

_If Daddy ever lost Mom…_Bailey refused to think about it. "OK," she said finally, bowing her head. "Uriel…he was supposed to have been sealed away in the Element World. I don't know where, but he was sealed away by Mother Nature and Father Time."

Crystal's eyebrows twitched for a moment. "By both of them?"

"Yes. Father Time opened up a portal that would throw Uriel into a pocket of item that couldn't be reached and Mother Nature used her powers to make sure he couldn't open the door from the other side. Unfortunately, it didn't work the way they wanted it to."

"Because he was sent off to our world," Crystal said with realization. "And that's what caused the collapse."

"Right. I don't know the kids of powers Uriel has, but he made it so that the portal they put him in was reversed. He could go wherever he wanted, but they couldn't open it up to get to him. And because of him being loose…that's when everything happened with your parents and everything." Bailey bowed her head. "Things had been in a good placement with Uriel just existing in the human world and when they found out about his existence…"

"I get it." Crystal held up her hand, cutting her off. Her eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you mention any of this before?"

"I wasn't sure…" Bailey suddenly realized how little she knew about Elementals and everything that went along with it. All she knew was what Geneva and Gattaca would tell her at a moment's notice. Even then, they did their best not to scare her or bog her down with the information they already knew. They lent their powers to her when she needed it, but she was still the one that had stumbled upon the existence of them in the first place. Determined, Bailey looked up at her. "I know I shouldn't have kept it quiet while I tried to figure things out. I'm not going to get in the way of beating this thing. I promise."

"Good." Crystal stood up, flexing her fingers. "Because you need to learn how to fight." She gently shook her head. "Relying on the powers that Geneva and Gattaca give you will only inhibit your own abilities later."

Bailey looked away from her once more. What was going on here? She was a person that preferred to have things done peacefully, not fight. She would get in trouble even for slapping one of her sister on the arm or saying something that would have her mother gasp and admonish her with a quick, "Hush your mouth".

Now here she was, willingly going to learn how to fight.

She had come a long way from being the country girl from Kettlecorn, Kansas that had a naïve view of the world. She could feel the seriousness of the situation take her over and slowly push the 'innocent Bailey' out of the way, leaving behind a hardened girl who was starting to become more accustomed to strange things going on.

She wondered what would've happened if she hadn't followed Zack and Cody that day a few years before. _Duh, Bailey, you would've been left on the SS Tipton which was then attacked, you may not even be alive right now._ She frowned. _But what about London and Mr. Moseby being back? _

She shook her head.

"Is that your way of saying 'no' or…?" Crystal trailed off.

"No." Bailey stood up. "It's my way of saying 'yes'."

Crystal waited for the girl to pull off her blanket and the two girls left her quarters. Running her hands over each other, Crystal moved into the head space she got into when she was about to start sparring. She couldn't allow outside thoughts to get into her head when she needed to concentrate on her breathing and the way her body moved through the techniques she learned to defend herself.

Having grown up learning Chinese kenpo she learned that it wasn't about attacking, more basing it's fighting style on defense. The main criteria for the practice was to learn how to end a fight as quickly and efficiently as she could, mostly focusing on her foot position, weight distribution, and body alignment. She preferred it over other areas of martial arts due to the mediation aspect that developed focus and mental clarity, especially during tai chi chuan.

Crystal waited for Bailey to leave the room before she went out as well. She paused for a moment before rolling her head to the side to face Cody as he had leaned against the doorway. "Please don't ask me to do that again," she said to him, eyes narrowing.

Cody grimaced, shifting uncomfortably. At least he had the grace to realize the difficulty of the task he had asked her. His baby blues shifted over to her. "I didn't think she'd do it if it came from me."

"Gee, I wonder why." Crystal started forward and Cody fell into step beside her. "Look, I know it's something we've talked about since we left and everything, but I think you should at least try and talk to _her _about what happened between the two of you." At the sound of Cody's scoff, she twisted around on her heel and held a hand out, pressing it against his chest so he stopped in his tracks. "Putting it off and acting like the other person doesn't exist isn't going to help anyone."

"Really?" Cody tilted his head to the side. "Cause I was thinking at some point Plato's and Empedocles's theorys on attraction would have actually helped me at some point," he said derisively. "But why start now?"

"Scary, huh?" At Crystal's smirk, Cody chuckled. She pushed her blue strand of hair out of her face. "Seriously, though. What happened with Mother Nature…you didn't have a choice. It may have been against what she believed, but we were all fighting a losing battle at that point." She shrugged. "Though I understand why Bailey was so upset."

Cody's face darkened slightly. "I thought you were on my side."

Now it was Crystal's turn to scoff. "I'm not on anyone's side, Cody. I'm just helping you see what she was thinking and how she felt." Cody bobbed his head back and forth as he thought about what she had said. "You know I'm right."

"In some ways, you always seem to be right, Tally," Cody replied, his right eyebrow twitching upwards.

Crystal grinned showing off her teeth and unusually long canines. "Must get on your nerves. I, for one, enjoy it."

"I'm sure you do." Cody took a step forward and placed is hands on her neck, gently running his thumb back and forth over the smooth skin. "Just go easy on her. I'd hate for her to think that you're getting back at her for when we were dating or something."

Now it was Crystal's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You know, you just reminded me of why we broke up in the first place and I'm _really_ starting to question—"

"—forget it."

"I thought so."

Cody smiled and leaned in, giving her a kiss. He only pulled back when he heard Aaron say, "If I'm interrupting something, I can come back later." With a disgruntled sigh, Cody turned to the blonde boy. "How were you able to tell what we were doing?"

Aaron's features twisted in amusement. "I can hear the sound of your breathing, Cody. Do you _and _Zack not understand what the term being 'blind' means? If you want, I can explain it to you."

Crystal laughed and turned to her brother. "Did you just get checked out of the infirmary?"

"Mhm." Aaron nodded. "They said I'm the bill of health."

"Still doesn't explain that burst of energy though," Crystal pointed out.

She gave her brother a worried look and he must've sensed her change in demeanor for he reached out a hand and took hers in his, squeezing it gently. The last thing she wanted was to find that he, somehow, had some sort of power he hadn't been able to tap into before. He was already at a sort of disadvantage because of his blindness, but for his smarts as well. Anyone they were facing would be smart to knock out him and Sydney, like what had happened at the State House a few months before.

"And now it managed to be the one thing that hurt Uriel? I know what you mean." Cody agreed. He rubbed his chin, eyes shifting back and forth as he thought. "Actually, that might be something that Syd and I should look into." He turned back to Crystal. "Diamond is going on a patrol around the compound and is reachable by walkie-talkie in case Uriel comes back. The others are still in the infirmary."

"Keep an eye on my Dad for me, would ya?" Crystal said.

"Sure thing." Cody hesitated, as if he wanted to say something else, and then decided not to. Instead, he gave Crystal a quick kiss on the cheek and headed off down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Crystal gave her brother a hug and then let go before he scurried after Cody as well.

She watched them leave then turned and headed in the direction Bailey had gone, to the fitness room. As she went, she thought about the reasons everyone were always putting their lives on the line when things may have been easier if they rolled over and allowed things to happen; a sense of responsibility, a way to change things, to fix the inevitable future, to save themselves…

Her only thought was to get vengeance for her father.

* * *

In a dark space, blocked off by his own emission, Uriel growled, holding onto his arm. "Blast that boy," he spat. "How did he manage to hurt me so?" He reached out and waved a hand, opening a glowing white area in the complete darkness that surrounded him.

It took a couple seconds for the white to create a distorted picture and another long moment before the picture revealed itself to be of Earth. As he watched a dull green glow started to pinprick around different areas of the world, mostly gathering n the US, but having instances in Africa, China, Europe, South America…all over the world.

And as more and more lights popped up, Uriel's malicious, shark like smile increased.

"Your time has come…now I'm going to turn you to the life you've deserved forevermore."

* * *

**A/N: **If anyone can guess what I'm going to do pretty soon in the story based off this chapter, I'll write or draw something for them. Promise.

I know the shifting of POVs from Bailey to Crystal in this chapter may have been a bit confusing, but I thought it worked considering the basis behind it directly affected the two of them. Bailey is really starting to have everything sink in for her with Uriel, and Uriel is the one behind her mother's death and how it affected her father afterwards. So even though the two may not get along, they're connected in some way.

Oh and now you've found out about Crystal's fighting style with Chinese kenpo karate. I got the idea after looking up some Street Fighter stuff (one of my favorite video games) and asked Crys and she said that Chun-Li was one of her inspirations for the character of Crystal. I think it really fits.

So now you know how Bailey knew who Uriel was and you'll soon enough figure out how Zack recognized him.

After the next chapter (the next one being another look into the past segment) the pacing of the story will move faster. I feel the recent ones have been a bit slow, but then again, I've needed to explain some things before their adventure really starts.

Now it's gotten a bit more into Crystal's and Cody's relationship, especially considering I've left it so mysterious with the past two stories (considering Crystal had kissed him before). Hopefully what I do with it everyone likes since I still have a lot to reveal about what happened during the final battle and the time the group had been apart before going back to Boston.

Quick warning, it's getting closer to the point where this story will more than likely be shifted to an 'M' rating. Just so you all know. Also, chapters will get longer.

Cheers,

-Riles


	14. A Look Into The Past III

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

* * *

Uriel had been stuck in the shadows longer than he anticipated.

Mother Nature and Father Time had been _stronger _than he anticipated, particularly when their powers were united. He surmised a sneak attack on their castle while they slept, when they had been at the most vulnerable would've been effortless. He could acknowledge he underestimated himself and those that were guarding the castle; someone must've discovered him early for the Mystic Melody sounded around him.

Alerting those to take cover and others to get ready to fight.

He shot into the castle with a vicious assault on those that got in his way; listening as their screams of fury and attack were unexpectedly cut off. The lights of their eyes instantaneously extinguished; they couldn't tell Uriel was using part of his powers no one had ever seen or lived to see. He projected an invisible force field in front of him that stole their souls upon touch. The more stolen souls, the stronger he became. Each and every sole quickly and quietly replenished some of his wasted energy.

Like a battery being used and charged at the same time.

Uriel blasted through the castle until he came upon the main room he knew Mother Nature and Father Time were to be. Their children, Geneva and Gattaca, had been practicing their summoning spells, honing in on their powers of light and darkness. The perfect contradiction to round off the powerful family. The large book of spells had been floating in front of the two children came crashing to the floor when Uriel came bursting through.

Mother Nature wasted no time getting her children to safety and the massive battle between the three had brewed, zapping all three of their energy until Uriel had been tricked. It was a dirty trick too, something one of the young nursery children would've produced. A simple matter of distracting the opposition and pulling the blanket out from underneath them when the time came. And yet Uriel fell for it and was banished into a pocket portal, sent to complete darkness. What they didn't know as he had managed to steal a little bit of their souls as well, taking in portions of their power. So he lied in wait, knowing they would be patrolling around to see if he was coming back, all of his options would be blocked.

Or would it?

He knew guardians were being sent to earth to protect the Elementals…what would it mean if he found a way there? And so he did. Opening a portal had been effortless; subjecting himself to the new world took more of a toll on his body than he would've ever thought. The moment he arrived he perceived himself weakening by the second, energy was deteriorating. Then the pain started. Little pinpricks then the ever burning fires from hell, their fingers licking all over his body as he wracked with suffering.

He needed a host. He needed something that would keep him along until he regained his strength.

Then he came across him, Akito Hiroshima, and Uriel managed to plant a piece of himself in that man in a curse never to be broken.

His presence started to take notice of those guardians and Elementals that recognized his power. However, it brought attention to others as the years went on. He found himself captured on film, on _camera_. People trying to capture him by any means necessary. No matter. The information they received wouldn't save their souls.

He managed to dispose of them just by a wave of his hand and a blast of energy.

But each shot of energy, not being able to take the souls of other Elementals continued to make him weaker and weaker. The souls of humans didn't have enough power to revive him, nor the ones that were unawakened. He needed to find a body to host him. Getting a human to host powers was something all those that inhabited the Element World, eventually learned how to do. He had seen that Trethaway fellow enough to know he wouldn't put up a fight.

It was a deplorable fight. It only took a moment of threatening…a fireball here, a thunderbolt there…then showing off his _real _power, and the man was putty in Uriel's hands. Then those four teenagers had to keep getting in his way with that element stone of light. He knew the power that one stone had individually as well as combined with the others.

If they obtained possession of those stones…

So he had to take them out, one by one, when the time was right. Blast that he couldn't get to the last two; they always somehow managed to evade him. And yet, he watched, projecting himself into others while he waited.

And it all fell down from there.

* * *

**A/N: **So you may have been expecting this 'look into the past' chapter to be about 'the original four'…then I thought having revealed Uriel in the recent chapters, it'd be better if I showed it his past in his POV a bit.

Cheers,

-Riles


	15. The power of Life

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

* * *

Zack ran his hands over his face before turning back to his bag shoving clothes inside. Of course it was color coordinated for him, so different shades of a muted red stared back at him along with the imprint of flames that he used to wear ages ago.

He smiled to himself, remembering his obsession with trying to get the coolest clothes as well as feel socially accepted. Not only had he wanted to be part of a crew that really wanted nothing to do with him, maybe stemming from the fact that he felt he needed to be accepted? He wasn't sure. But the Drew Crew was all he cared about after having moved to the Tipton and if it weren't for Max and Tapeworm, everyone he ever came into contact would probably hate his guts.

Zack's hand movements slowed.

_Max…_

Truthfully, he hadn't thought about her for a long time when he had been on the SS Tipton. He had left everything he had known behind to get on a cruise ship for school only because he had grown to be so…bored with the Tipton and Boston in general. He was tired of having been able to anticipate when an attack was coming. He was tired of having to run away from those that would potentially find out who was someone he could trust and someone he had to avoid a long as he could. The moment he had been able to convince his mother to get them on the SS Tipton he jumped on it.

Being so distracted with the school, class, passengers, his job, the different countries they had managed to get to, as well as meeting as many beautiful and exotic girls from all over the world, his life in Boston had faded away as did his friends. And having seen Max again, knowing that she was then dating Tapeworm; it had been like a punch to the gut.

The two had dated a long time; they fought alongside each other against WingzCorp, and grew with each other in their relationship. Then having gone on the boat and becoming so engrossed in his classes and everything else around him, things broke apart and before he knew it, she had moved on to someone else. Then he was the one that had gone and gotten her killed. No one would be able to change his mind about that. He was being attacked, she was trying to protect him, and she had gotten killed.

Tapeworm had been destroyed by it and Zack did his best not to show how he was feeling about the whole thing. There were times where he found himself in a restless sleep, seeing her image everywhere, hearing her talk to him. Then everything would turn black and he would hear nothing but haunting laughter. If it wasn't for the stress of the life he had been living for the past couple of years, he was sure the dark bags under his eyes would've been from his lack of sleep.

"Do you have everything packed up?"

Zack glanced over his shoulder and watched as Cody moved into the room, his won bag over his shoulder. Nodding, the older twin turned back to his bag and zipped it up. "Do you think all of the training we've gotten has helped?"

Cody shrugged, titling his head to the side. "If you want to call it training," he said honestly. "I mean, yeah, Diamond and Christian have helped us out. They had the new technology that probably did wonders when it comes to testing the limits of our abilities and everything but…I can't help but think we may have been screwed over again."

"What makes you say that?" Zack sat down on his bed, dangling his hands between his legs.

He glanced around the tiny room that resembled cabins quarters on a sail boat rather than a room. It was too small, small enough that he didn't share it with anyone else. Though he had gotten used to being in a room by himself when it came to the SS Tipton, he had been suddenly, strangely aware of how quiet it was without someone else in his room. Especially when they were being trained by the government…

For what?

What were they really getting in return for working with Diamond?

He hadn't explained what any of them were really there for other than being tested. None of the scientists that worked within the facility told them anything. They ate and slept, worked out, trained, sparred, and went about their day as if there was nothing different about their day. Then Uriel had come to fight them and they found out about the existence of Father Time.

Not only that, but that he was the father to Geneva and Gattaca, who's mother was the one that had nearly destroyed them before thinking they were to blame for the way life had been altered on the Element World as well as on Earth because of the collapse of the barrier between the two worlds.

"The fact that we haven't gotten answers on anything," Cody said. He dropped his bag to the ground and crossed his arms. "Christian, I understand. The past may be too hard of a memory for him to actively get over. Not only had he lost his best friends, but he lost his wife and his daughter's mother."

Zack nodded.

"And we haven't heard anything from Core in so long…he went off on some sort of mission last time, but…" Cody trailed off as Zack nodded. As far as any of them were concerned, Core had either gone on e a suicide mission or else he had abandoned them all when times got tough. Not even Christian knew where his friend had gone. "I do have a question for you though."

"Shoot."

"How did you recognize Uriel?"

Zack regarded his brother, bringing a hand up and slowly teasing the knots out of his hair as he thought about how to answer the question. Not only would it help; maybe get rid of his constant plaguing nightmares, but it might bring something that would find a way to help them out.

"I didn't _recognize _him, exactly—"

"I saw the look on your face, Zack. I'm your twin brother; I think I know what you're thinking on a daily basis."

Zack made a clicking sound with his mouth. "If that's the case then I want to know what you thought when I was playing seven minutes in heaven with that one cheerleader in eighth grade." He slowly started to smirk. "Because I was wondering why your face was so red when I got out."

Cody rolled his eyes although he smirked back at his brother. "I'll let you know when the time for that conversation comes." His seriousness replaced the lighthearted atmosphere that Zack had tried to replace. "Zack…"

"Fine." Zack held up his hands defensively. "Just don't get all whiny on me. You'll start to sound like Mom." Palms suddenly flooding with sweat, he wiped them along the legs of his jeans. "I didn't recognize Uriel, exactly. It was that I'd seen him before. In my dreams."

Cody's right eyebrow twitched upwards.

"You remember when we were, like, six or seven and I kept having all of those bad dreams about a thing that Mom kept calling the 'boogeyman'?" He used air quotes around the word. Cody tilted his head to the side as he thought about it.

Come to think of it, there _had _been many times where Zack had woken up with a scream or suddenly trembling next to him in his bed. Cody had always teased Zack about it, wondering what it was that had made the older twin so scared when he was otherwise so brave. For a while, Zack had insisted that there was a monster after him and Carey and their grandmother, who had then become frustrated with his stories, didn't believe him and just sent him off to bed.

Cody didn't even know if he believed his brother. While he continued to scream and shake, eyes wide with terror, he had seen the same looks before when the boy had tried to scare him during Halloween or saying there was a monster in the closet and find a way to drop a spider on his head or back, which would send Cody in a twisted frenzy to get the offending insect away from him.

"You've seen Uriel before?" Cody finally managed to ask.

"Kind of," Zack said. He ran his hands over his face, confused. "I've never seen him before. Like, I didn't know what he looked like. I recognized his voice. It was the same voice I heard in my nightmares for years."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Cody rubbed his chin. "Then why wouldn't I have heard it either? If he knew somehow knew that you and I are the strongest, which in some ways people do somehow know, why didn't he just attack you then and there? Or get to me too?"

"I don't know."

"Have you told anyone else about this?"

"No." Zack shook his head, lowering his gaze to his feet. "I haven't. I didn't know who the voice was coming from and for a while I managed to make it seem like I hadn't heard it. I blocked out most of the nightmares or just accepted it…I don't know."

Cody made a humming sound. He thought for a long moment and suddenly stood up straight, his eyes widening. "Hang on a minute; I think I know someone who can help us." He turned on his heel and quickly left the room.

With a heavy sigh, Zack flopped back against the bed, throwing his hands up behind him. Maybe he should've mentioned that as soon as Uriel had shown himself he didn't feel like he was being watched anymore. Like he had said to the Jacksons back when they were in Australia, the only thing that had spoiled his vacation was the feeling he as constantly being watched.

Now he knew the reason why.

Closing his eyes, Zack tried to think back to his vacation. With everything that had been going on as of late, he didn't remember much of it. Had he been relaxed? He was at beach nearly every day, was able to stay in an extravagant house with his friends, less extravagant than the Tipton, but a better house than he had ever lived in, he was able to see the sights that everyone would've loved to experience at least once, and he was able to spend a couple of months with his girlfriend and his friends.

Sure, it had been strange to see how famous they were in Australia, though the way Sydney explained it, they were more infamous because of the advances their parents made in science and the community more than anything else. But being able to see how happy they were made him relax enough. Even Julius showed his face a lot, going over to the house to see how things were going along.

It was the most Zack had been around the guy for the past four years and he was even amused to find Julius quickly switch into a 'big brother mode' and gave the speech that Zack had heard many times from fathers of the girls he had dated. Though none of those men had the ability to seriously maim him at a moment's notice if the time ever came.

No, he was never completely relaxed while he was on vacation. Not only was he worried that someone would come out and attack him at a moment's notice; it had become second nature to him, his reflexes working a lot faster than they had been years before. Then there was the worry about his brother. Sure, he may have been living the dream that he always wanted, to converse with many scientists and philosophers on whatever topics they could think of, pertaining to the theory of Elementals and what could be the driving force behind the power.

Considering the news coverage they had gotten back in Boston, he was surprised there weren't any conventions for them. Much like the Comic Book convention that he would only dream of attending. It was a far off dream now that he anticipated each and every day for the next one where he was to die.

"Please don't tell me you're sleeping," Cody's voice came from the doorway.

"I'm not," Zack replied. He opened his eyes and tilted his chin down to look at Tapeworm, who had entered the room behind his brother. "What's up?"

Tapeworm cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest. "You saw Uriel in your dreams right? Since you were a kid?" Zack nodded. Tapeworm let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. "I have a theory of what his power may be and the fact he's been plaguing you this long has basically proven it." He glanced over at Cody to be sure he was paying attention before continuing. "In my dream ages ago, I heard a voice calling to me from the door that led from the Element World to Earth. I had no idea what it was and why I was able to hear it, but I recognized it as Uriel's voice."

"So he's been around longer than we thought," Zack remarked.

Tapeworm nodded.

He ran a hand over his shaved head as he turned away, eyes focusing on nothing. He could still remember the way the words fell over him when he had somehow managed to travel to the Element World. The coldness that swarmed around him, the sinister voice echoing in his head and all around him. Then all of a sudden he found himself in the Element world, watching as little kids ran by, playing with whatever they could get their hands on, their parents doing their chores. He had been in the countryside portion of the world, seeing the castle that Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time lived in. Then he had been to the nursery where he saw Canis after she had been reborn.

Being able to see his girlfriend's guardian look at him, feeling that connection to know she recognized him, was something he knew he would never feel again. Then Max had appeared before him in the dream. And he could feel her, touch her, kiss her. He was able to hold onto her and feel her hug him back. She was there, he knew she was. And yet, when he returned to his own world, it wasn't the same. She was gone; she wasn't going to come back again.

He had seen many weird and impossible things happen since he had awakened but having someone come back from the dead was an impossibility.

But still, he remembered that hallway. The dark hallway with very little light, but just enough to see his reflection in the mirror that had been resting across from him. But behind him there had been nothing but darkness, darkness that was reflected in the mirror.

There was no light; nothing at all, only darkness.

He remembered in his dream having walked down the hallway, watching the mirrored walls. He remembered seeing parts of his past as he walked past the mirror, when he was a kid, when he as a pre-teen, his parents before he was born, the day he was born. They had all been shown to him like a slideshow the more mirrors he passed.

Finally, at the end of the hallway was a door. Having walked in through the door, he was faced with another room. This time there was only one mirror but by the mirror had been a figure dressed in a black cloak and the lack of a reflection in said mirror.

The figure had then leaned in towards Tapeworm and his mouth opened to reveal sharp, pointed teeth.

He took a breath and then whispered, "_If you leave I will find you. If you die I will follow you. You're not going to get rid of me._"

None of it had made sense to Tapeworm at the time, but now…now that everything was slowly being revealed to them. It was just like opening a door and allowing light to flood in. However, the conclusion he came to seemed a bit impossible.

_Maybe not. _Tapeworm's eyes widened as he turned back to Zack and Cody. Lightning had struck him and while the smoke started to clear, he knew his idea could work. "Did you guys see what Uriel did to that scientist before he threw him across the room?"

Zack and Cody exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Don't you see? The way he was able to kill that guy so easily, how he was able to defeat anyone that came in his way, how he was able to be sealed away and come back, how he has gone through so many of our dreams and watch everything from the sidelines. The Element Core that Father Time was holding onto when we sent Zack in to reach him. It all adds up."

"Into?" Cody waved his hand.

Tapeworm threw his hands into the air. "The same reason that the legend of Uriel managed to live on for so long and he continued to be able to watch us _and_, more than likely, be the one that has been plaguing Elementals all together."

"Because he's invincible?" Zack suggested.

A loud scoff came from Tapeworm's mouth. He brought his hands back down to his waist. "Everyone has a weakness. No. Uriel's not invincible. We even managed to harm Mother Nature before things ended. No. Uriel controls the power of Life."

Zack's eyes widened.

Cody made a choking sound.

Life. The very thing that connected everything in existence. The very same thing that could be taken out of a person, animal, or insect the moment there was enough trauma. Even getting to the point of being mentally broken could take the life out of someone. Of course there were those that would take their own life.

Life was a powerful tool; something everyone held and could use at their own expense or the expense of others.

"And that door I saw in my dream…that was the portal," Tapeworm continued. "That was the portal between Earth and the Element World. The true one. Maybe Mother Nature had opened a portal with her own powers. But we know there was a barrier between the two; what if that door I saw was what was created after the barrier fell?"

Zack twisted his mouth to the side. His brain was starting to hurt the same way it did when he was stuck in a math class with numbers, letters, and word problems flying at his head. It was hard to make sense of, but it had made sense. It was another piece of the puzzle that fell in perfectly and wouldn't make sense to be moved. Glancing over at his brother, Zack could see that Cody was thinking the same thing.

"And…I saw Max then," Tapeworm admitted. Zack sat up straight, his eyes widening. Did his friend see a zombie or was she actually there? "I saw Canis too. Canis was reborn to become another guardian, she recognized me. But Max…" A wistful sight escaped his lips, his eyes suddenly misting. "She was exactly the way she always was. Wearing the same things she always did, hair in braids, a hat on her head."

Zack leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. "Tape…she's dead," he said gently.

"I know what I saw!"

"OK! OK!" Cody held his hands up, pushing Tapeworm way from Zack lest he leapt across the room to reach the boy that could control fire. "If what you're saying is true," he said to Tapeworm, who scowled and turned away from him. "Then it's a bigger break than what we could ever anticipate." His ponytail flopped as he shook his head. "He controls life….so in that case I bet he controls death too."

Zack suddenly had a worrying thought. "So if that's the case, then he can control, like, all of the elements as we've seen." His blood ran could and he spoke slowly as the next words came out of his mouth. "Enough to make a death look like an accident?"

A stunned silence followed.

And in that silence he knew Cody and Tapeworm understood what he had been implying.

"We have to go see Christian," Zack decided. "Tell him what we found out; see if there's anything else that he remembers or could help us out." He stood, starting to pace back and forth. "Then we to tell the others what we figured out today." He placed his hands on his hips as he continued to pace. Every few seconds his hands would start to glow red, but then he would regain control of himself and the flash would disappear once more. "Everything we know about Uriel, Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time. The more we know the better so we'll be able to find a way to defeat Uriel once and for all."

Tapeworm made a humming sound but otherwise didn't say anything more. They had been defeated so easily by him and he had barely lifted a finger. And enemies like Uriel didn't go anywhere without an army of those that worked for him. There were bound to be some sort of ambush coming along at some pint. Especially considering he had managed to break into a government complex without being detected.

He pushed the thought aside.

They couldn't focus on their defeat.

"But we're going back to Boston today," Cody reminded him. "What are we supposed to do? Wait for the sky to open up again?"

"If we have to. Especially considering we don't know where the next attack is coming from and where Uriel is actually hiding." Zack cracked his knuckles. "But this time, we'll be waiting for him. And ready."

He hoped his optimism wouldn't get them killed.

* * *

**A/N: **I hadn't done a chapter with Tapeworm in a while, so I thought it would be good here. Now I need to do Pat, No, Reihu, Julius, and Maddie over the next couple of chapters as well.

Yes, Uriel controls the power of Life, which gives him a lot of abilities, making him nearly invincible. And the door/voice from the last story has been explained. More will be explained and now that they're headed back to Boston where Moseby, London, Carey, and Kurt have shown up, things should be interesting.

Cheers,

-Riles


	16. How ironic, yet so fitting

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

* * *

Telling the others what they knew about Uriel had gone exactly how Cody had expected. Everyone had gone very quiet as they took in the words, then they had gone up in arms. Questions flying back and forth, no answers were given, and it seemed to just confuse everyone even more than they had already been. Not that that was a surprise, Cody had become used to absence of answers and knowing exactly what was going to happen. So much so that he had become a bit cynical whenever he had a question answered simply or quickly.

Now sitting on the jet that was taking them back to Boston, he looked out the window at the skyline that grew in size the closer they got to the city. Things in the government compound had been strange. They had gotten a lot of work done, had their stats tested—which had needed to be done for a while—as well as having gotten some answers done. However, there was still that figurative and literal dark cloud following them everywhere. Not knowing which day would be their last and how it could come.

_I wouldn't be surprised if Uriel depressurized the plane and killed everyone on board, _Cody thought. _Then again, it seems like Mother Nature and Father Time is his main targets and that we just got in the way._

_/Not like that's any surprise/ _Phantom replied. _/You all seemed to get in the way of basically everyone else that had come through the barrier to Human World/._

Cody gave a wry smile before replying, _We wouldn't have been given these powers otherwise._

_/You weren't given them. They were always inside you and had been for all Elementals on Earth since the portals between both worlds opened./_

Crystal and Zack, who had been assigned the seats flanking Cody on both sides, looked over at him weirdly as he nearly jumped from his seat. The realization had hit him so hard he couldn't help but move. If what Phantom had said was true, then Uriel was the reason that each and every one of them was Elementals.

How ironic, yet so fitting.

The one who was trying his hardest to get revenge on everyone, by taking away their life force, was the one who had given them their powers in the first place. That was his first mistake. Sensing Zack staring hard at him, Cody spoke out of the side of his mouth, "I'll tell you later," he murmured. "Just some ideas I'm trying to work through."

"Otherwise he really _is _as crazy as we thought," Crystal commented, causing herself and Zack to start snickering.

"Ha ha." Cody rolled his eyes but didn't say anything otherwise.

Once the plane landed and everyone had gone to retrieve their bags, he and Zack said goodbye to their friends before going out to catch a cab that would take them back to the Tipton, which wasn't hard. Many people that came to Boston; politicians, Musicians, Authors, anyone that would bring some sort of fame to the city as well as to the Tipton Hotel, Mr. Moseby—or now Esteban as it was now—would make sure they would get the before any other hotel could get the reservations.

Zack turned and leaned against the outside wall of the airport, watching as quick moving patrons claimed the cabs that pulled out in front of them. Not that the twins minded. They weren't in any rush to get back. Not when there was so much to try and go through, hoping to make sense of everything.

"So you never told me that you and Crys started dating again," Zack commented, lowering the scarf that was tightly wrapped around his neck.

Cody glanced at him before shrugging. "There's not much to tell," he said. "You can only spend so much time with someone before you start to feel differently about them." He bobbed his head back and forth. "I didn't tell anyone, really. The only reason the Jacksons know is 'cause Syd told them. And…I think Christian might've mentioned it because he called back to the house a lot."

"To be sure they weren't getting in any trouble?"

"No, to be sure _you_ weren't getting in any trouble."

Zack's eyes widened. He pushed himself into an upright position, shaking his hair from his face. "What sort of trouble could I get into? I slept more than I did anything else. That Australian sun is no joke considering what my power is." He looked over at Cody, who stood next to brother in a t-shirt and jeans, not seeming to notice the cold around him, though he had to wear at least a light jacket even though his body temperature was higher than that of a normal person'. "I'm surprised I wasn't in a perpetual coma while I was out there."

"I had the opposite problem," Cody remarked. "Being in the cold so much kept me completely energized. It was all Crys could do to get forced to wear long pants…considering all the weird looks she would've gotten from people that don't know she's an elemental."

Zack nodded and faced forward again. He watched as a couple high-tailed it to the cab that had pulled up in front of them. They still made no move to get into a car. While it would be better for them to at least try and blend into their surroundings so that no one else would recognize them—some of the people at baggage claim had walked up and thanked them for what they had done, as if they were war heroes—it might've been easier to get home if they just ran to the Tipton.

Or maybe flew.

Cody could feel Phantom becoming restless as it was. The guardian liked to have a lot of space to fly about when he wanted, having been cramped in the airplane for even a short amount of time didn't do well for his nerves.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?" Zack continued to press.

Cody wasn't sure how to respond to the question. The only thing he hadn't told Zack about was what he was sure Zack was dealing with all the same. Just as they others were. The post traumatic stress from the fight was what was on the back of everyone's minds. Now that they were going to be going into a battle with Uriel, who by all means was more than likely to be even stronger that Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca combined, it wasn't sitting well with him.

"I think all of us need to talk about our fight with Mother Nature," Cody finally said. "And I don't mean just me and Bailey. All of us. There's so many things that we haven't faced and are acting like it didn't' happen. We had to make some very tough decisions while we were on the battle field and keeping it deep down inside isn't going to help us in the long run."

"You're telling me," Zack muttered. "I'm surprised Blazen's still around." He shook his head. "That was a really hard decision to make; he could've been really hurt. But…I didn't have a choice. Not when there were so many lives in danger as it was."

Cody looked out towards the Boston skyline. It wasn't the same as it used to be. Not since some of the higher buildings had taken on so much damage. Though admittedly, the State House was worse for the wear. It would take a long time for the city to return to its normal state, if not the whole world.

"Zack? Cody?"

The twin boys turned around to see that Maddie had up behind them, her hands jammed into the pockets of her long coat, nose buried into her scarf. Though the temperature had been pretty mild back in Washington, D.C. it was already starting to get pretty cold in the New England city.

"Hey." She smiled, lowering the scarf from her face. "Do you guys mind if I go to the Tipton with you?"

Cody's eyebrows rose. "I thought you'd be going back to your apartment," he said. "Get some sleep or something."

"I was thinking about it," Maddie said, brushing her blonde hair behind her ears. "But I haven't seen the Tipton in a long time. And there are some things that I wanted to talk to you guys about."

Now Cody looked confused as he exchanged a glance with Zack. That was strange. _Why would she want to talk to us? Wouldn't she want to talk to her boyfriend? _Rather than asking, feeling it was none of his business; he merely nodded and smiled at her. "Sure, the more the merrier. It'll be like an old reunion or something."

"Great!" Maddie tried to smile again, but this time it didn't quite reach her eyes. Cody looked hard at her. She didn't appear to be as affected as the others did. There weren't any bags under her eyes, no visible scars, and as far as he was concerned, she slept soundly each and every night. He was jealous, actually. Only having the power of healing, she didn't find herself in battles much, only needed when the time came. He wasn't even sure if she was really an elemental as she didn't have a guardian either.

Maybe she was more like Bailey and Aaron. Not really one of them, but still having powers they couldn't explain.

_Not that anything's being explained anyway._

All of a sudden he heard Maddie's loud gasp and felt a sharp pain against his back, propelling him forward. Zack immediately fell into a fighting stance before launching himself forward where Cody had just been standing. Cody whirled around in time to see Zack shove a flaming fist through the chest of a small, black creature with big yellow eyes. It exploded in a puff of black smoke.

Feeling a warm dribble down his back, Cody bent an arm behind him and pressed his finger against his back. His fingers slipped over the skin and the water bearer knew it was blood even before he had pulled his hand away from his shirt. But the sight of the bright crimson liquid against his fingertips immediately drove him into his fight response. Zack and Cody watched as dark shadows moved along the ground before heads started to poke out of the ground.

Screams of terror erupted around the three blondes accompanying the squealing of tires as cars and cabs tried to get out of the way of the hoard of creatures that were all popping out of the ground. Their yellow eyes trained on the Elementals.

"What the heck are those?" Maddie gasped.

"They must be the shadow soldiers Uriel was talking about," Zack remarked. He eyed them warily. "They look harmless though. How can these things be what Uriel sends out to attack us?"

Cody still felt the blood dripping down his back. "I beg to differ on that one," he said. "We can't take any of them for granted." He let out a cry of surprise as a shadow hunter was suddenly in his face. It had moved faster and jumped higher than he had anticipated, actually startling him. Tapping into his powers, he shoved out his right hand and shot a stream of water into the shadow hunter, causing it to implode immediately. "They aren't that strong." He pivoted on his left foot and did an arcing sweep with his right, hitting another one as it leapt towards him.

"Yeah, but there's a lot of them," Zack reminded him. "There must be something we don't know about them." With that, he launched himself forward and shot a brilliant stream of fire, with a light tinged edge, to a group of shadow hunters that converged upon him.

Cody leapt high into the air and moved to the center of the shadow hunters. They all leapt towards him at once. Holding out his arms, his hands started to glow blue. "Whirlpool!" He spun in a tight circle, blasting water out of his hands, the quick tight movement creating a pillar of water that protected him from each strike that came his way. Each Shadow Hunter that jumped towards him was immediately beaten down by the hard water he shot out. However, one was stronger than he anticipated, and managed to break through the water and slash him across the face with a quick rake of its hand.

"Ow!"

Stumbling backwards, Cody reached up a hand and pressed it to the side of his face. Even more blood dripped down. Yeah, he really shouldn't have underestimated them. He shot towards the shadow hunter with blinding speed, tapping into his extra ability to move quicker than a cheetah, and aimed a punch back towards the shadow hunter. But melted into the ground and moved behind Cody, striking him in the back again.

Blinding pain caused him to squeeze his eyes shut.

Whirling around, he swung a fist towards it, but once more, it melted into the ground and moved behind him. Around and around the two went in their manic dance. Zack appeared to be having the same problem, his grunts of frustration perforating the air. Cody continued to swing around, hoping to anticipate where the shadow hunter was going to come next.

/_Behind you!/_

Cody turned and did an uppercut swing with his fist. It struck the shadow hunter directly in the chest and blasted it into smoke. "Thanks, Phantom," he said breathlessly to his guardian. There was no need to tap into the animal powers he had taken from his guardian nor did he need his guardian to come in and attack for him. They weren't that difficult to fight, just hard to get a hold of.

True to the element that Zack was destined with, he swung around wildly as he continued to try and blast the last of the shadow hunters that continued to do the same evading tactic it had when fighting Cody. Finally, he backed up a couple of steps and sent a stream of fire down towards the ground in a large circle, as he stood in the center. The wave of fire that erupted outwards caught the shadow hunter as it started to pull itself out from the ground, finally defeating it.

"Now, I understand why he uses Shadow Hunters," Cody remarked once Zack lowered his arms, chest heaving with effort.

"Now _I _understand why he has the element of fire," Maddie remarked, from where she had been watching. She moved over to Cody's side and looked at his back and his cheek. "That shouldn't be too hard to heal, just don't move." With her hand encased in a light pink glow she reached out and gently touched Cody's cheek. It itched where the skin moved back together and the blood immediately dried. But at least the burning sensation was gone.

Maddie then moved on to heal his back, causing him to shift uncomfortably as it was done, before moving over to Zack and gently cupping his face in her hands.

"You have no idea how long I waited for you to look at me like this, Sweet Thang," Zack said, causing Maddie to laugh.

"Good to know that despite everything that's happened, you're still Zack inside," Maddie said to him. She removed her hands from his cheek and gently rubbed her thumb over the tight skin before taking a step back. "There, good as new." She huddled her arms against her chest as there was a sudden gust of wind. "Those things were creepy. And you say that they're the thing that Uriel is sending out to attack us?"

"It'd make sense," Cody remarked. "It looks like a mini-person. It combats his idea of having the power of life." He scratched the back of his neck. "We should get back to the Tipton. Who knows what else will happen while we're out here."

"Right. Let's go." Zack hailed a cab and one zoomed up, stopping a few feet away from running over their toes. The three put their bags into the trunk of the cab before climbing into the backseat. Maddie directed them to the Tipton hotel and they all sat in silence on the ride back. The cab driver, after having recognized Zack and Cody in the rearview mirror, he started talking a mile a minute about how they had saved his family during their last fight.

They had been trapped in a car that was being attacked relentlessly by the arboris. Their vine arms crashed through the windows and lashed at those that were inside, before puncturing the shell of the car. It was then that they had smelled gas, and the arboris continued to attack faster, having caused enough damage to the car so the occupants inside were in immediate danger. Zack had gone flying by, wings extended out of his back, knocking arboris off of the car. Then Cody had come through and blasted the others off with water, causing the gas to freeze compared to the drop in temperature that Mother Nature had inflicted upon the city. The twins had then ripped off the doors and pulled the family inside to safety.

"You saved my life and my family's lives, man," the driver said as he pulled up at the Tipton, having finished his story. "I can't thank you two, enough. If you ever need a way to get around, just call me." He pulled out a sheet of paper with a phone number written on it, handing it over to Cody. "And don't even think about paying for the cab fare, it's the least I can do."

"Thanks sir," Zack said.

The man reached back and gave both Zack and Cody a firm handshake and another 'thank you' before allowing them out of the cab and into the front of the Tipton hotel. Maddie snickered as she walked with them. "You must really be enjoying your celebrity status."

"Don't joke," Cody murmured, his eyes moving around the lobby for anything that was out of place. "It's actually really starting to get annoying. I'm not some sort of war hero that's constantly putting my life on the line." He paused. Actually. That's exactly what he was doing. Even when he was in school he would jump out of class to fight off Wingz Corp on the less often chance of them interrupting their school day to do so. He quickly backtracked his thought, "either way it makes me want to be out of the spotlight even more so than I already did."

"Why not wear a mask and cape?" Maddie suggested.

Zack gave her a funny look. "Haven't you learned anything from our comic book obsession when we were kids? You don't wear a cape, it's too easy for things to get snagged or for the bad guy to pin you to something. And masks are ridiculous? How does someone have their entire identity covered by one tiny piece of plastic?"

"Zack, I think you're taking this a little too seriously," Maddie said to him. She then regarded him carefully. "And you used to be so excited about this, back when it all started. You couldn't wait to go out and fight people using your new powers."

Shrugging, Zack turned away from the girl he used to put former his objectifying attitude onto. "That was before I was directly responsible for two people's deaths and feel this is more of a curse than a blessing." His voice lowered, a serious expression coming onto his face. "But who's counting?"

Cody tired his hardest not to meet Maddie's eyes, knowing if he did he would have to try to explain. But for one of the few times in Cody's life, he had no idea what his twin brother was thinking or feeling. It was the first time he had heard Zack refer to what happened to Max and Koto as well as that he didn't want to have his powers anymore. He _had _been the one that kept Cody up with non-stop talk about what he had managed to do with hi powers that day, if he was still fourteen years old and as strong as eighteen year old Zack had become, he probably would've pissed himself out of happiness and excitement. Now he could hear nothing but subdued emotion in his brother's voice.

"Ah! Maddie!" Maddie, Zack, and Cody turned around to see Mr. Moseby walking their way, a bright smile on his face. That smile faded slightly when he got a good look at Zack and Cody. Nevertheless he was all smiles for the ex-Tipton employee. "Nice to see you back from your vacation."

"Vacation?" Maddie repeated.

"Yes, yes." Mr. Moseby bobbed his head back and forth. "I got all of your letters from the camp. At least they're behaving better than the dreadful campers you had your first year, right?" He nudged Maddie on the arm, not seeing to notice the confused expression on the tall blonde. His eyes then moved over to Zack and Cody and he nearly growled. "I hope to hear that you two will be staying out of my way while the new guests arrive? Some of them want peace and quiet and I don't want to hear about you running through the air ducts."

"We can't fit in there anymore, Mr. Moseby," Cody pointed out.

"Which totally sucks," Zack added.

"I suppose something had to stop you monsters," Mr. Moseby said. He let out a weary sigh. "Too bad I couldn't say the same for the SS Tipton. All you ever did was cause trouble. Even when you had gotten jobs, I had never had to have so many plastic cups replaced." He glared at Zack, who shrugged. "Have a good day." Stepping around the three of them, Mr. Moseby walked over to the front desk of the hotel and busied himself in the computer.

"OK." Maddie popped her lips. "That was weird."

"That's what we were saying," Cody said as they headed over to the elevators. Passing the candy counter they saw that the new worker was nowhere to be seen. "When we first saw them, it was like we were still on the SS Tipton. Like nothing had changed."

"And that's saying something for London," Zack agreed. He reached out and jabbed his thumb into the floor button to get up to their suite. "She was talking all about how she and Bailey were rooming together on the boat…and Bailey hasn't been there in years."

"Hmmm," Maddie murmured.

Once the elevator doors opened Cody led the way to the suite. Taking out the key—which he was surprised to notice that he always had on him—he opened the door and stepped inside…and let out a bit of a shriek of surprise when his mother came flying out of one of the rooms and enveloped him and Zack in a hug.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Zack cried.

Crushed against his mother's side, Cody shuffled his feet, turning the three around to see that Kurt was standing behind Carey, waiting for his chance at a hug. "What are you doing here?" Cody asked.

"As soon as we heard that Boston was safe we had to come back and see you guys," Kurt explained. He watched as Carey continued to rock her sons back and forth, doing her best to keep from bursting into hysterics. Though from the way she was trembling, Cody could tell she was only seconds away from bursting. "You've done a lot to protect this city and your mother and I are proud of you."

"You know what happened?" Maddie asked.

Kurt nodded. "We were watching it all happen on TV."

Cody's eyebrows furrowed together. _So Mom and Dad remember everything about Elementals and Blazen and Phantom. But Moseby and London act like no time has passed since our first year on the ship. What the hell is going on? _To prove his point, Cody spoke to Phantom, _Hey, come out here._

_/Are you sure?/_

_Positive._

In a flash of light, Phantom appeared in the room, hovering through the air before flying over and landing on the arm of the couch. Blazen noticed his brother was now outside of his charge and came out of Zack as well, perching on the back of the couch and looking at Carey and Kurt curiously. Carey finally let go of her sons, allowing them to massage their necks and shoulders and walked over to the two eagles, who continued to look back at her.

"Thank you for protecting my sons," she said to them. "I don't know what would happen without you around to help them."

Blazen, who had a similar personality to Zack, immediately warmed up to Carey, and hopped forward, offering his head so that he could be rubbed. "It's no problem. It's my job! Zack's my friend and I'll do whatever I can to protect him when the time comes. Just like he'd do for me."

Phantom nodded. "I'm sorry, but I must ask how you are aware of our presence?"

"We met you last year," Kurt reminded him. His eyes shifted. "When we were leaving."

There was a brief silence throughout the room. There really was something going on. Two people who remembered Blazen and Phantom and then two people who acted like time hadn't passed by for them at all. Zack made a waving motion with his arm and the three headed off towards their room under the excuse to unpack. Carey and Kurt willingly let them go, saying they were going to go out and get some food for dinner, to celebrate that they were back together.

Cody glanced over at Zack as he closed the door to their room behind himself, his twin, and Maddie. If this had been years ago, Zack would've been bursting out of his shoes to have Maddie in their room. Even then, Maddie took a quick look around.

"Wow, Zack, I'm impressed. You managed to keep your room clean for once," she said.

Zack sat down on his bed and put his arms behind his head, cupping his head together as he leaned back. He ignored her comment, though Cody could still see his eyes light up at the comment. "So what's going on here?"

"I think Father Time has something to do with this," Cody said. "I don't know for sure, but I think Diamond alluded to the fact that they had brought Father Time over to our world, which made it easier for Sydney contact him. And his moving over had upset the balance of time." He held up a finger when Zack went to speak. "But…I think it has more to do with London and Moseby have never encountered Elementals, but Mom and Dad have." He groaned, running his hands over his face. "This is so confusing."

"It's just something else we'll have to ask Christian or Sydney and Aaron later," Zack reassured him. "Right now, we should just rest." His eyes widened and he turned to Maddie. "Sorry, didn't you want to ask us something?"

"Oh." Maddie's eyes lowered to her feet. "Yeah, kinda."

Sensing her hesitation, Cody looked over at his brother, slightly narrowing his eyes to convey his thoughts telepathically. "If she doesn't want to—"

"No, Cody, it's ok." Maddie cleared her throat. "I was wondering….am I helpful at all? I don't have any powers other than to heal you guys. But Cody and Sydney can do that too. I can't fight. I don't even have a guardian." She clasped her hands together. "So I wanted to tell you guys, if it ever came to it…leave me behind and keep going."

"What?" The word came flying out of Zack's mouth before he could stop it.

"Maddie, don't," Cody said. His hands tightened into fists. "You help us more than you think. You're not useless."

"I slow everyone down," Maddie insisted.

"_No. _You don't!" The emotion that flowed from Zack started both Maddie and Cody. He was practically glaring at their former babysitter with unbridled disgust. "No one slows us down and no one is getting left behind. We're been doing great with what we've got and if Uriel is as strong as we think he is, we still need you." He shook his head, now speaking quieter. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

"OK," Maddie whispered.

Cody continued to stare at his brother.

Zack had asked him before if there was anything he was keeping from him.

Maybe Cody should've asked Zack that question.


	17. A war between both worlds?

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

* * *

Bailey paced back and forth, stepping over the textbooks, notebooks, and papers that littered the floor of her dorm room. She used to be so organized and neat, but that was before everything had started to fall apart around her. She thought things would've come back to normal when he was at school in Yale, but even that had been hard.

The friends she had made had been stared at her in awe when they realized they were friend with _the _Bailey Pickett.

The one that had helped saved the world.

She had sort of become a campus celebrity and had interviews with the newspaper and media outlets as well as having been asked question after question by those around her. The times that she had spent before class reading and making sure all of her homework was correct was suddenly filled with questions and being treated as if she was some sort of a hero. Lunches with her friends had become times where she would try to eat as fast as she could before the large crowds of people went up to talk to her or to thank her about what she had done. Then there were the pictures; people snapped photo after photo of her as she went to class, the clubs she was part of, or even _in _class. After having brought it up to the administration they allowed her to do some of her work online if she preferred but she didn't want that. They were already giving her special treatment with her work and how much time she took when she left the campus as it it was.

It was a nice gesture, but getting really annoying.

She wanted to be normal.

But normality was never going to come to her again and the sooner she realized it, the better off she'd be.

Now she understood how Zack and Cody must've felt as the years had gone on after they awakened. It was exhilarating at first, then exhausting, knowing how much about her life she had to keep a secret as well as to keep her personal life hidden. It was one of the reasons why she had decided to change her hair color. Not only had she wanted a change, but it made her so unrecognizable to the ones around her that would have her blend in as much as possible.

Now here she was, after having gotten back to Boston she bid goodbye to Tapeworm and his family and decided to go back to school. If there was anything that would take her mind off things a little bit, it was going back to her normal routine. But as soon as she found herself in her empty dorm room, her roommate having gone somewhere, she couldn't keep her mind off of everything that had happened. Besides, she needed to be on her toes in case Shadow Hunters or Uriel himself decided to attack her at a moment's notice.

She couldn't be too careful.

"Don't worry, Bailey, we'll figure something out," Geneva said as she and Gattaca appeared in the room, sitting on her bed. Bailey stopped pacing and turned back to face them. "There hasn't been anything we've encountered in this world or ours that we haven't been able to defeat."

Bailey made a humming sound. "What sort of things happen in the Element World?" She asked.

"Invasions are the most troubling," Gattaca replied. "Those that had gone rogue against the kingdom would come and try to take it over. The Mystic Melody would be signaled and those that were sent out to apprehend those trying to invade would be banished from the kingdom and the surrounding areas."

"Uriel was the only one that had managed to get into the castle, where Mother Nature, Father Time, Gattaca and myself resided," Geneva said. She brushed her long brown hair behind her ears with a simple motion. "He has always been the one that had the people of our world feared when it came to the destruction of our lives and the way we lived."

"Otherwise everyone in the Element World tended to live in harmony," Gattaca said.

Bailey nodded then thought about something they had mentioned. He managed to get into their castle? "What did Uriel want?" She asked them. "Other than, potentially, taking over the world? What use could there have been to get into your home?"

"Mother Nature and Father Time are the ones that hold together the existence of the Element World," Gattaca explained. "Not only when they eventually pass away, as while we can live long we still have the potential of death, the powers that they had to keep the world in balance will fall down to us. That's what we had been studying ever since we were old enough to be able to start reading the Book of Esme."

Bailey blinked rapidly, trying to figure out the historical connection. "Wasn't Esme an angel?"

Geneva nodded patiently. "Esme means Gracious Protector," she said. "The Book of Esme holds different incantations and ways to unlock supreme power. Whoever is the ruler of the Element World needs to be able to use every incantation in the book to rule and restore the kingdom in case something goes wrong. Though, admittedly, there are parts of the world that are out of our control, which is also what the Mystic Melody is for."

"Uriel knows if he can get the Book of Esme that he'll have supreme power and may be able to banish Mother Nature, Father Time, and the two of us with ease."

"We had begun learning the spells from the Book when Uriel attacked the kingdom. Mother Nature had given us the book and had hidden us from his sight before Uriel had been sent through the portal to the human world."

_And that's where Zack and Tapeworm's stories come into play, _Bailey realized. She mentally whisked through Uriel's being able to be the boogeyman that plagued Zack for as long as he could remember as well as being the one who had spoken to Tapeworm when he had, in a dream, been brought to the Element world and had seen his deceased girlfriend once more. Had he ever done anything to her? She wasn't an Elemental so she didn't think he would've thought her to be interesting enough back then.

Now she was just as big a target.

"Do you think if we retrieved the book it'll give us some sort of way to defeat Uriel?" Bailey asked. "To get rid of him completely?"

"It_ is_ possible," Gattaca remarked. "But none of us know for sure. Not only have the two of us not completely read the book, but Mother Nature now has it guarded as much as possible. She and Father Time are the only ones who are able to get to it without the offender touching it being decimated or severely disfigured."

_Darn. _Bailey sat down on the end of her bed. _There goes that idea._

All of a sudden there was a loud scream that echoed from the hallway and Bailey immediately sprang to her feet, running across her room towards the door. She felt Geneva and Gattaca instill themselves into her once more, the strength and power filling her, as she reached the door. She flung it open and spotted some female students huddling down the hall.

"What happened?" Bailey demanded.

But they continued to stare behind her. One of the students finally managed to reach out a shaking hand and point behind her. Bailey whipped around the other way and spotted a male student hovering off the floor, eyes wide with unbridled terror. As Bailey watched, a tear slid down the cheek of the student as he continued to hover. Immediately falling into action, Bailey focused on the power of light that Geneva controlled and held out her hand. A white glow encased her fingers like a glove and a bolt of light shot out towards the student.

Right when it would've hit him, the bolt smacked against a sold force and shot back towards Bailey, causing her to quickly dive to the ground. Pushing herself up, holding herself in a push-up position, her eyes moved down as she noticed something. Had her shadow moved? Bailey's eyes widened when the two large, yellow eyes appeared from the ground and a face slowly pushed its way out of the ground towards her. The creature's mouth dropped open and large, sharp teeth gleamed as a hiss came from its mouth.

With a startled cry, Bailey shot out her hand directly into the face of the creature with her glowing white hand and it imploded upon impact. Scrambling backwards, Bailey got to her feet and held her hands up by her face, the way Crystal had instructed her to do.

_"Uriel is holding that human, these are his Shadow Hunters_," Gattaca explained. _"He has so much power that a force field is put around the human, keeping all of the blasts at bay."_

"How am I supposed to defeat him then?" Bailey whispered eyes on the boy. She could see the terror turn to pain, a slight wheeze escaping his mouth. She realized it must've hurt to have Uriel take over a body like that. It' must've been what happened to Zhane two years before when he had started Halo Syndicate to capture them. _Maybe Halo Syndicate was completely run by Uriel, _she realized. _Maybe he had put himself into all of those kids to try and defeat us before we even knew about him._

_"I believe you are right, child," _Geneva agreed.

Suddenly, the student was knocked into the wall and fell limp; whatever had kept him rigid disappeared, causing him to slump. Bailey moved forward to help him, and then stopped when more Shadow Hunters appeared before her. With the help of Geneva's powers, she made quick work of the creepy creatures and hurried over to the student's side.

The girls that had been watching down the hallway hurried over as well, once the coast was clear. Bailey reached out and pressed her fingers against the boy's neck and waited as she tried to count his post. The girl on her left had been crying silent tears and continued to weep as she kneeled by her friend.

"Is he going to be OK?" She asked.

Her friend, the girl on Bailey's right, shushed her, watching as Bailey went through all of the medical training she could remember from her first aid classes. She checked his pulse, put her finger under his nose to be sure he was breathing, even pinched his Achilles tendon, which caused the boy to jerk slightly and let out a slight groan.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Bailey sat back on her heels. "He'll be OK," she reasoned. "He's just…unconscious; I don't think there's any permanent damage on him." She looked at the girl to her right. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know," she said slowly. "The hall had gone down to the ice cream social and we came back so we could get some soda to make floats and we say him floating there." She brushed her hair behind her ears. "We wanted to go over and help, but…it was like we were frozen. Then the floor turned all black and…and you came out."

Bailey nodded silently. _So the black floor made it that the Shadow Hunters were able to get around._ That made sense; it was much like the power that Rhuben was able to control. And then Uriel was holding onto the student. He could've done anything to him, take the life out of him like he had done with that scientist. _Who knows what else he's capable of doing if he holds the power of life? The next fire drill could be something that he orchestrates. _

What else was he going to do?

Better question, why did he do it?

Bailey answered her own question before she even had to contemplate it. To prove that he was always around them and that he could strike at any time. And if that were the case, they were in even more danger than they originally thought.

* * *

Reihu was suddenly awoken out of a deep sleep.

His eyes shifted around, taking in the shadows that flittered across the walls, over the floors, as well as himself. The blanket that covered his curled up form fell down his shoulders and he twisted to the side to pull it back up. As he reached his hands out, the feeling that had launched him out of his sleep had woken him up slid through his body one more. A low growl escaping his lips, his eyes moved across the living room.

Staying in the Manning's living room while he looked for a place to live himself wasn't that strange, after it had been rebuilt from the attack on the house a few years before, it was as normal as ever. And yet, he still could fell that he was being watched or that something was calling him. Could it be Uriel?

No. He would've sensed that as soon as the being of life had come around.

Reihu rolled to the floor and stretched out his back, hearing and feeling each of the vertebrae in his back cracking as he did so. He treaded forward on his hands and feet, listening hard as he tried to figure out what the feeling was. He hadn't felt that way in a long time.

_No way…_Reihu instantly recognized the feeling.

Pushing off wish his hands, he moved to his feet, he quickly turned around and grabbed onto his shoes before going over to the front door and sliding outside. After putting on his shoes, he stretched his arms and legs before quickly walking down the front steps of the house. Turning, he glanced up at the front of the house to be sure no one had heard him leaving, lest Rhuben. She always seemed to know what he was doing before he did it, probably due to the time they had spent together while in the Dark Lions. No matter how many times he had to fight her or try to capture her under the orders of Core, there was something between them that would follow them forever.

Such as Patrick and Noah with the Dragon Gang, Sydney with Spirit-X, and Riley with the BlackWolves. As such, he was surprised that Riley hadn't gone into a full blown rage after she had learned for Koto's death. In fact, he was even more surprised that Rhuben had been the one to convince the Dark Lions to leave before things got too dangerous around the city. It proved that no matter what sort of things they had all gone through that their work in WingzCorp was stronger than anything else they had done.

He wondered if the Jacksons were feeling what he was feeling at the moment, but doubted it at the same time. They hadn't spent as much time with WingzCorp as he did. Another growl escaped Reihu's throat as he started down the sidewalk, away from the house. He had barely known his parents when he was taken and while Core had managed to brainwash him in a sense, he was still incredibly angry about it. He had become family with those that were in the Dark Lions; though they made it a point not to have their emotions get in the way—though that didn't always work for him—and having known that each of them had been taken from their families just to be worked on…

Every now and then they would wonder if their families missed them or if there had been any sort of notice that they were gone.

Now wasn't the time to think about it, Reihu reasoned. He had to figure out who was calling him. Reihu started to walk faster and faster until he was at a light jog, then a run, then a sprint, before he leaned forward and started to run on his hands and feet, slowly morphing into a lion as he went. He tore through the streets of Boston and out towards the outskirts of the city, making great time. He could hear startled gasps and shrieks of surprise as he passed the Bostonians that were out late. Tires squealed and cars shrieked as he bounded into the street and weaved back and forth through traffic, even going as far as to run over the top of a car when they were directly in his path.

Finally, he reached the area he felt the energy was coming from; a hill that looked over the city of Boston. From his vantage point, Reihu could see the shimmery reflection of the moon over the Boston harbor, illuminating some of the ships that bobbed in the water, casting shadows over the others. Lights reflected from some of the taller buildings and he could see the State House from where he was; a giant hole still in the side. It had been covered, but there was still a long way to go for fixing it.

As he came up the hill, Reihu could see a lone figure standing at the top of the hill, looking over the city as well. The figure's back was facing him, keeping him from seeing the face. He didn't need to look directly at the figure; he knew exactly who it was.

Reihu came to a screeching stop as he stood up, turning back to a human. He snarled for a moment, canines gleaming before staring hard at the figure in front of him. "I thought it was you," he remarked.

Core turned at the sound of Reihu's voice and looked back at Reihu with a raised eyebrow. "I thought you'd come." He tilted his head and Reihu walked up next to him, looking over the city. "You're the only one I thought would be the one that would come, though I contacted the others."

"How'd you do it?" Reihu scratched the back of his neck, his green eyes contracting into cat-like slits as he looked down over the city. As far as he could tell, the city was silent for the first time in a while, most having gone to sleep. "We don't have any of those kinds of powers like the Elementals do."

"It's something I had been working on when I had first started my work."

Reihu snorted. "You mean when you started to kidnap a bunch of kids from their families?"

"Even before then," Core rsaid. He cleared his throat, turning to face the seventeen year old boy. "I had always thought it was interesting to note how the Elementals were able to communicate with each other as well as with their guardians. What sort of mental wavelengths had they been able to tap into that we're not sure of. How are they able to feel it whenever their guardian was calling to them?"

Reihu slowly nodded. He could understand that. It had always been interesting to him as well. How were they always able to tell whenever he and the rest of WingzCorp were about to attack them. He could come upon them as stealthy as possible and come flying out of a tree with blinding speed and a punch aimed at their head that would break their neck the moment it would connect, and somehow they had always turned and managed to block him last minute.

"When I _had _started my experiments on you all, to try and figure out what was it that made some people Elementals and not others, I had created this sort of chip that I implanted in each of you. It took its power from your own body's life force that enhanced your senses, mental capability, and your perceptiveness to those around you." Core paused. "That's not to say that those that had ended up working for me as WingzCorp were the first ones I experimented on, you were the first that had become a success."

Reihu made a humming sound but didn't reply.

Core turned back to the city, looking out over the city one more. A hint of a smile graced his features. Reihu watched the older man, suddenly realizing that he knew absolutely nothing about him though he had spent many years of his life blindly following what he wanted to be done. Not only had he found the man to be some sort of a God at one point, one that he would blindly follow with no questions asked, but it had been all thrown apart when he found that the only reason he and the others had been trying so hard to get Zack, Cody, and the others wasn't to steal their powers as they were their enemies, but to protect them.

_Why would he want to protect them and not the ones that had worked alongside him for years? _Reihu had wondered as everything was revealed to him. He wondered it now, but realized he didn't care for the answer.

"Where were you?" Reihu decided to ask instead.

"I went on a mission that I wasn't sure I'd come back from. In fact, I wasn't sure if I _did _want to come back. Not after everything that I've caused." He turned to face Reihu one more. "I went out to DC on a suicide mission; I had known it would be hard for me to get anywhere near what I had been looking for but found some interesting things while I was there."

"Suicide mission?"

"With all of the work I had been doing over the years, things can get pretty depressing. I could never get the feeling of something heavy off my chest…I felt too much guilt, having brought my friends into everything and then what happened to them…" Core shook his head. "Otherwise, I _had _found some information that the government had been hiding that can be of real use to us."

_How ironic, _Reihu thought. They had just been in DC to get some training done and now Core had come back after almost a year of his disappearance. The human-lion hybrid was conflicted with how he felt about Core's reappearance. On one hand, he still felt a sense of loyalty to him but on the other…he had done so many unspeakable things he still couldn't wrap his head around that made him angrier than he could ever imagine.

"What'd you find?" He finally questioned.

"That the portal opening between the human world and the Element world…it had happened before, on the same scale that Mother Nature had done," Core said. Reihu's eyes widened as he regarded what Core had said to him. "And from further findings…due to the existence between both worlds, the balance between the two is collapsing and unless something can be done, one of the worlds is going to be destroyed. And by any means, the powers that come from the Element World bring a really good chance that Earth is going to be the one to fall."

"So there's going to be a war between both worlds?"

"Exactly."

* * *

**A/N: **I've been severely under using Reihu as the story went on and I realized it was because I had been so used to him only being around when WingzCorp was attacking and now I'm working on that. Plus, Core had to come back at some point. ;)

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	18. A Look Into The Past IV

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

* * *

Nathan rolled up his sleeping bag as quietly as he could and used it as a pillow. Around him, Reed and Christian slept soundly, the three having taken the living room of the Japanese house to sleep in as opposed to finding a hotel. Though Reed had been curiously excited to be able to sleep in a tiny capsule that was intended for a bed, Kristen's offer of staying in the house had won as the boys found themselves to be more exhausted than they originally thought.

There was no point in trying to get any sleep that night. He had too many thoughts running through his head. Too many things that Akito had been told to himself, Christian, Kristen, Renee, and Reed. Some of it really made sense; everything else went over his head and frustrated him even further than he thought was possible.

It was interesting and so strange to see how many things had surrounded him had to do with Elementals before he was aware of it. Or maybe he was thinking too much into it. The weather patterns that quickly changed were from elementals right? Or had the weatherman really been wrong? Or did the greenhouse affect really have to do with the polar ice caps melting quicker than anyone had anticipated?

There was a whole world of things he hadn't known before.

Were the animals that ran around everywhere really animals or were they guardians?

He wasn't sure. Even Akito's guardian, Huritt, the fox was a different kind of guardian. As the revelation of Elementals in his family had been so small, he decided to stick with the Hiroshima family, being the guardian for it as well as Akito in general. When Renee asked her grandfather how it was possible, even he couldn't' figure out how it worked.

But that's what made it more exciting and what thrilled him as a scientist, not being able to explain everything thrust his way. The biggest question he had after having talked to Akito for as long as they were permitted, even being able to see him use his powers as the night went on, was what made it that specific people to become Elementals?

Were there specific characteristics they had or didn't have? Certain experiences? More importantly, what would the outwardly effect of the public knowing be? If it was kept under wraps by the government so well, as he had accidentally stumbled upon it while doing research for a class, there had to be something wrong.

If not there being some risk of it being released to the public. And what about the evil thing that Akito had fought and lost against before. What was it if it had managed to take over Professor Trethaway as well?

It wasn't long until Nathan was engrossed in his thoughts to figure everything out. _You can't figure out how something works without experimenting on it. If we're going to test who is more likely to become an Elemental, is it possible to create your own Elemental?_

And thus Nathan mentally worked himself into tiredness, thinking of the different ways an Elemental could be created rather than born.

* * *

**A/N: **And now you see where Nathan first got the idea of creating his own Elementals, which is what resulted in the rest of his work down the line. At some point you'll see how he started to go by the name Core, but that's for another day. There are some other things that I need to show, plus this arc is going to finish with chapter 20, and then a new arc will start from there.

Cheers,

-Riles


	19. Or was he lying in wait?

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

* * *

At the crack of dawn, Zack awoke and silently moved out of bed. Pulling back the covers, she swung his legs to the floor and leaned forward, resting the heels of his palms over his eyes. He sat there for a long moment, not thinking, not allowing anything to enter his brain, just existing.

There was so much to think about and so little time; it was a good practice of aversion that he had taught himself long ago. Whenever he was in school and was being yelled at or constantly getting reprimanded, he allowed his mind to go elsewhere. Nowhere, really. And as much as he wanted to continue to sit in an area where he could pretend that nothing was going on around him; life didn't work that way.

He had a lot of responsibility and knowing that in some way, shape, or form he had to acknowledge it day after day…after what happened…it was starting to take even more of a toll on him. He didn't want anyone else to know, not when they looked up to him to be some sort of a leader.

Blonde hair hanging over his face, tickling his forehead and nose, Zack let out a warm, quiet breath that was filled with his anxieties. His muscles immediately loosened and he relaxed, allowing his head to hang even further forward.

Blazen, who had been sleeping on the pillow next to him, immediately woke from the sound of his ward's sigh and hopped over to his side. Gazing up at him, he tucked his wings into his sides and sat down next to him not saying anything.

Reaching out, Zack gently, gracefully moved his fingers over the light feathers that covered the eagle's body before standing up and grabbing his discarded jeans from the floor. He jumped into them, sliding them up over his thin hips, only stopping when his fingers grazed the skin. He could still see and feel some of the bones poking out further than it should. Thankfully they had gotten regular meals again when staying in the government compound. It had made him sick at first, being able to eat as much as he pleased when he was accustomed to going days without his next meal.

Zack finished pulling his jeans up over his hips, deftly zipping up the fly and buttoning it. Bending down, he grabbed his sweatshirt up off the floor before holding out his arm. Blazen immediately opened his wings and flew up to land on his guardian's arm. Smiling at him, Zack slipped out of the bedroom, being sure that Cody was still asleep.

As he closed the door behind him, he heard the sound of a loud snore and nearly jumped out of his skin, whipping around, heart hammering against his ribcage so hard it actually hurt.

"Relax," Blazen scolded him. He flew off of his perch and over to the couch, motioning down to it with a quick bob of his head. "It's just your Mom and Dad." He looked up at Zack once more, cocking his head to the side. "I didn't know that they still slept with each other. I thought you said they got divorced."

"Neither did I," Zack murmured. His eyes moved over the sleeping form of his parents lying on the pull-out bed. It was still kind of strange that they were back, but he was glad. Moreso than he could ever let on, just in case they would become targeted. He felt a little bad, really, that they were the ones sleeping on the couch still, when he was fine sleeping on the ground or—as one time showed—in a tree.

With a slight smile, Zack reached over and picked up the blanket that had fallen down their shoulders, pulling it back over them. After them having protected him so much over the years—as parents always did—he knew nothing was more important than keeping them protected now, just in case something else were to happen.

Zack nudged his guardian by the wing and the two left the suite, went down to the lobby and out the front door. Stretching his arms over his head for a moment, Zack waited for Blazen to turn into his beast form and climbed up onto his back. He gripped Blazen's wings, where they connected at the shoulder, and flattened himself against his back.

Blazen lifted his wings and took off high into the air. Wind whistling in his ears, eyes watering, Zack lowered himself on Blazen's back, allowing the two of them to become more aero-dynamic as the further up they went. Zack could feel the muscles rippling through his guardian's back and gripped Blazen's right wing. He could feel the spot where he had taken a massive hit, his wing nearly becoming disconnected.

It was bad enough seeing his friends in pain, hearing them scream and writhe around. But having to hear his guardian do it, whether in human form or in their beat form the animalistic cries that came out of a guardian's mouth was enough to send shivers down the spine and become horrified. It was the mixture of a human screaming and the sound of an eagle screaming, let alone his own guardian that had caused Zack to slam his hands over his ears and hope he never had to hear it again.

The worst part was that he was the one that had put Blazen in that situation.

/_You seriously need to stop beating yourself up over that/ _Blazen said to Zack, slowing down, hovering in the air. /_I'm fine now. You're fine. None of us are dead, everything's' OK._ /

"Yeah, but…what's to say that what happened to Max and Canis wouldn't have happened to you?" Zack pointed out. "If you died, then you're dead and I lose my guardian. But if I died…you'd die too." He rubbed his shoulder. "Our bodies are intertwined, you know that—"

"Zack, seriously, stop." Blazen twisted his head to the side and regarded his ward with a critical eye. "The point of being made a guardian, of taking on that responsibility, is so you'll take on the task of guarding the human you're assigned to with any means necessary. I will allow myself to be killed to be sure you're OK. Please don't question the job I've willingly taken on."

Zack nodded.

He turned at the sound of a low cry and watched as ThunderTatsu and SilverTatsu floated towards him, with Patrick and Noah on their backs. Zack nodded as the approached and slowed to a stop beside them.

"Have you seen anything so far?" Noah asked, flicking his hair out of his face. His eyes shifted up towards the sky for a brief moment before focusing on the blonde teenage boy once more.

"Not yet," Zack said. "We just got here."

"Do you _really _think the portal is going to open up again?" Patrick asked.

He crossed his arms, scratching the area around his Element Watch. Zack twisted his mouth to the side, suddenly feeling guilty. He probably should've gotten the rest of the group and told them what was going on. But he had a hunch and he didn't want to risk having everyone freak out over nothing, especially not when they had Uriel to think about.

Was he watching them at that exact moment?

Or was he lying in wait?

Scratching his jaw, Zack shrugged. "I have no idea," he admitted. "But…it's not like there's anything else that we're doing right now, other than watching the city get rebuilt and are wondering what's going to happen within the next few minutes."

"With what we know about Uriel, though, it gives us a tiny bit of an advantage," Noah reminded him. "Not only do we know that he can control the shadow hunters as well as the power of life, but we have to wonder whether or not it's something we can beat, yeah?"

Zack's eyes narrowed. It was the first time he had ever heard Noah be so…negative about anything. Then again, he knew Noah not to be the one that would speak so freely if it weren't something important that he had to say. At least not in situations like this, he was usually taking everything that he learned in, mulled over it for a while, and then revealed what he thought or what he knew from that information.

The only other times he became outgoing and loud was when he was in a completely relaxed state, much like Zack had seen when they were in Australia.

Patrick, on the other hand, was always open with all of his thoughts and feelings, however, this time; he was the one that was silent as Noah did all the talking.

"You think we can't beat him?" Zack asked, licking his lips.

"He didn't say that," Patrick said calmly. "He's just bringing up a good point. This guy was able to take the life of a scientist, basically, just by touching him, yeah?" He gently pulled at his lip. "What's to say that he won't send a bolt of lightning out of the sky and do the same? Is he able to make the whole city drop dead at the snap of his fingers?"

Zack shook his head. "That's why we need to check the portal," he said. "At least, that's what I think will be one way of making sure we're protected." He turned and looked up at the sky. It was a bright blue, the same sort of color that he wanted to see on a Friday afternoon, looking out the window while at school. It was a sign for a good weekend.

Now…it was unnerving.

Who knew what would be waiting for them on the other side.

"The power of the stones were able to make sure the portal closed back up," Patrick reminded Zack, who nodded. "And while you and Cody both share that ability, don't you think it would be better if he were here too?"

"No." Zack was firm on that decision. He wanted to be sure that everyone was OK and if there was anyone that needed the rest more than he did, it was Cody. He spent too much of his time trying to figure out what was going on with their powers, with the compound, the components of the portal…it had become a bit of his obsession. _And like I want to protect Mom and Dad, I want to protect Cody, too. _"We can take care of things if something goes wrong. And even then, it's like you said, now that we have the Element Stones, it's a power that we can use as well."

"If you say so," Patrick agreed.

Zack nodded. He nudged Blazen on the back and the three headed up into the sky once more. The shift in the atmosphere made it harder for them to breathe as time went on, however being elementals; it made it so that they weren't as susceptible as normal humans were. The thought was still worrying. The higher they climbed, they still hadn't seen anything.

What they had learned over the years—nearly five years at that time (for Zack)—was that they couldn't ever take silence and nothing happening at face value. There was usually something lying in wait for them, until it was the perfect time to strike.

"ThunderTatsu, can you sense anything?" Patrick asked, his hand tightly gripping the scaly back of his guardian. His nose wrinkled. "I don't feel an electric current up here at all, not like we had when the portal first opened." He frowned, suddenly realizing that he couldn't feel the energy from anything around them.

Not even the birds that passed below.

Nor his twin brother and friend that were hovering nearby him.

During his break back home in Australia, Patrick had practiced hard to increase the usage of his powers. Now that Zack and Cody had the power from the Element Stones, they were an even bigger target than before and everyone else had to be stronger to make sure they could defend them.

Other than being able to handle any sort of electrical problem that may have come up, he had expanded his powers enough so that he could, in essence, control the weather, as well as turn into a form of electricity himself and travel faster than he could just by running. Noah had been the same, being able to use the currents of the wind around him to change the weather as well as to use it to move at high speeds. Having managed to manifest those abilities made it so that they were more in tune with the earth, so they could sense the energies of any living thing around them.

If they were headed to where the portal had been, there should've been left over energies that would've been able to be detected.

"No," he called over to his brother. "Do you feel anything?"

Noah shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck suddenly stand on end. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

"I don't sense anything around here," Patrick said. "Neither does, Noah. If the portal had been here, we would've been able to sense the leftover energies from it, especially if the two worlds are collapsing on top of each other."

"Good point," Zack murmured. He motioned for Blazen to slow his movements, just in case something was about to go crashing into him. And in the next moment, he found himself struck across the face with something. Zack reeled back, holding his nose as it started to bleed. "What the?"

It was like he had just run straight into a brick wall. But there was something there. His vision swam and he felt his grip starting to loosen on Blazen and he started to fall backwards.

"Zack!" Blazen cried, but his voice was weak. Or was his hearing going too? His whole body was numb.

"Thunder Crash!" He heard Patrick shout. There was a brilliant bolt of lightning that illuminated the sky in front of him and he heard the greatest sound of an explosion. The sound was so loud it managed to break through the haze that continued to take him over.

"Thorned Affection!" Noah summoned his weapon, a large hammer, into his hands and brought his arms back over his head and threw it forward. "Megaton Drive!" The hammer flew through the air, circling a few times, and then smashed into thin air. But as Zack had seen before his vision went dark, as the hammer collided with the air, there was a brilliant flash of light and a loud explosion, just like what happened when Patrick sent out a lightning bolt.

ThunderTatsu and SilverTatus had pulled back just a few inches short of running into whatever it was, but Zack and Blazen had immediately crashed into it, not being able to stop. Zack felt his lower body slip away from Blazen and he was suddenly falling through the air, the wind ripping at his clothes and hair as he fell.

The thought of falling out of the sky to his death had never bothered Zack before, he didn't plan on ever going sky-diving so that completely reduced the risk of it happening. And yet, as he was falling he felt nothing but peace, a drowsy sense of peace.

"Zack!" Patrick cried. He turned ThunderTatsu around and started to fly back towards his friend with Noah and SilverTatsu behind them. Before Zack's vision went away he could see the sky erupt in a brilliant flash and he a rush of energy had blown through them.

He saw Patrick and Noah suddenly go limp and slide off the backs of their guardians, falling to the ground as well.

Then Zack's vision went dark, in a limbo of consciousness and unconsciousness. He could still feel the wind rushing by him and he, before having lost all of his senses, that despite having fallen for a long time, he didn't feel his body hit the ground.

* * *

**A/N: **With the next chapter, the first arc is over. And with the end of that art, the chapters will branch out from the rotation of Zack's, Cody's, and Bailey's POVs and encompass the other characters more so the other story plots I have planned will come into fruition (apart from the main one of course). As this arc finishes with the next chapter and the next arc starts, chapters will get longer.

It might've been really subtle—in fact, I'm sure it was, but I do have a reason as to why it was Patrick and Noah that had been the ones that went along with Zack and their story plots are based on it.

Also, the last couple of chapters (minus the 'look into the past one') have been happening in the

same time frame; so Zack, Cody, and Maddie at the Tipton, Bailey's having gone back to school, Reihu meeting up with Core, and this one have all happened in the span of a day.

_Review Reply for Guest from chapter 17:_ We deleted our old stories. Looking back on them, they hadn't made a lot of sense and were very poorly written. However, one of the old ones that we wrote is now being re-written under the names 'Save Me from Myself' and 'Help Me, Save Me'. Our old elemental ones that started out from when Zack and Cody first got their powers and all that may be re-written as well.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	20. Something was wrong

CHAPTER NINETEEN

* * *

Cody shot awake at the first explosion.

It was second nature to him now, as soon as there was a loud sound he would blast to his feet and fall immediately into a fighting stance, eyes shifting around, waiting to see what it was that threatened his life. This time around, he had been blissfully asleep and the sound of the explosion had caused him to thrash around, kicking his legs back and forth, before launching himself to the floor.

Phantom let out a startled cry, blasting straight up into the air, nearly crashing into the ceiling before he righted himself and glided around to land on Cody's back, who was still lying on the floor.

"Master Cody, I don't think that was good," Phantom said to him.

"I don't think falling flat on my face with my arm twisted under me was good either," Cody mumbled, face still in the carpet. "Not only is the carpet riddled with germs, but I think I may have twisted my shoulder."

"You're worried about germs at a time like this?!" Phantom frantically flapped his wings, digging his claws into Cody's back. "Cody, get up! Get up! Something's going on!" He let out another cry as there were two more accompanying sounds of explosions. This time the sound was loud enough so that a shockwave crashed through the Tipton. Cody brought his arms up to cover his head as he heard the windows crack.

Surging to his feet, Cody grabbed his jeans off of the floor and jumped into them as he headed out the door. His mother and father had been awakened by the blast as well and were standing at the window, curtains drawn back and staring out. Cody came up behind them and watched, mouth dropping open in a silent gasp at what he saw.

The sky had darkened with ominous storm clouds, lightning bolts crackling through the sky. He recognized it as soon as he caught a glimpse of the sky, seconds before he noticed a falling object. He hardly had to look at it, and the two objects above, before feeling his blood run cold.

"Zack," he whispered.

"Zack's out there?" Carey asked, turning to face Cody, only just noticing he was there. She brought a hand up to her mouth and turned back to the window, watching intently.

"If I know Zack as well as I think I do…" Cody nodded. "And that's not including the fact that I don't think he's in his bed." He shook his head. "What the hell is he doing?" He reached out and started to open the latch on the window. Kurt reached out and grabbed onto Cody's hand, holding him still. "Dad! I have to go!"

"I know," Kurt replied. He looked at his son, dark eyes burning deep into Cody's blue ones. "I know you have to go…" he slowly removed his hand, letting out a quiet sigh before putting his arm around Carey's shoulders. "Just…be careful out there, OK?"

Cody looked back at his father then nodded firmly. "I will."

Carey reached out and placed her hand on Cody's cheek, gently stroking it. Her eyes then lit up and she removed herself from Kurt's grasp. She hurried over to the closet and pulled it open. Dragging a suitcase out from the back, she dropped it to the floor and quickly unzipped it, producing a black and blue hoodie. Standing up from her kneeling position, she walked over to her younger son and handed the fabric to him, who took it with a grateful smile and pulled it on over his white undershirt.

"Thanks, Mom," he said to her.

"Stay safe, Cody," she said, stroking his cheek once more.

There was another crashing sound, but this time it came from the door of the suite blasting open and hitting the back wall. The Martins whirled around to find Mr. Moseby storming into the room, dressed in his pajamas, a stocking cap resting on his head. The expression of unrecognizable fury on his face was similar to the ones that he would show whenever he and Zack would play a prank on him.

"I know that you two can be mischievous boys, but don't you think you could wait for the actual morning?" He demanded, placing his hands on his hips and tapping his foot up and down. "This is a hotel I'm running. You need to be courteous to other guests."

Cody gave him an odd look, placing his hands on his hips. "We haven't been doing anything, in fact, Zack's not here." He scratched the back of his neck. "And I need to get going." He started to move from the room, but Mr. Moseby grabbed onto his shoulder so hard that he was stopped in his tracks. "Yes?" He practically growled through gritted teeth. "I _have _to go!"

"There are no pets allowed in the Tipton," Mr. Moseby insisted, motioning to Phantom, who was not clinging to Cody's shoulder.

"I'm not a pet!" Phantom blurted out, causing Mr. Moseby to let out a startled shriek and backed away from Cody. "And we're not the ones that are making those sounds! Something's going on and we need to figure out what it is and how to stop it." He then addressed his Master. "I'm afraid that if we wait any longer then something's going to happen to Zack and Blazen."

"I know, let's go." Cody hurried back over to the window of the suite. He unlatched it and pulled the doors open as wide as he could. Resting his hands on the railing, he watched as the dark objects continued to fall to earth at a rapid speed. He could tell without having to see the dark specks that it was Zack that was the first to fall. He could just feel it, something had gone wrong and he needed to figure out what it was.

"Did that eagle just talk?" Mr. Moseby asked behind him.

"It's a long story," Carey said dismissively. "Right now, Cody's right, he has to get going so he can help."

_How is it that Mr. Moseby isn't thinking about the SS Tipton right now? _Cody suddenly thought. _Before, it was like we hadn't left the SS Tipton at all and now he's surprised to find the existence of Phantom? Something's really wrong. _He had no chance to think about it because a Shadow Hunter popped out of the wall in front of him. He cried out and stumbled backwards, away from the window before lifting his foot and driving it into the face of the Shadow Hunter as it leapt at him.

The Shadow Hunter fell back and converged with the ground, his shadow moving along the floor before it popped up in front of Mr. Moseby. Its wide, yellow eyes stared down at Mr. Moseby before its mouth opened wide, revealing its sharp teeth. Mr. Moseby screamed in fear as the Shadow Hunter slid up from the ground and leapt at him.

"Water of the Soul!" Holding out his hands, Cody's Aqua Staff appeared in his hands and he turned it so that the glass orb on the top of the staff was pointing towards Mr. Moseby. "Aqua Strike!" The orb glowed bright blue, water swirling up into the tip before blasting out in a straight blast of hard water and energy through the Shadow Hunter, causing it to implode. Cody pulled up his Aqua Staff just in time to keep the water from hitting Mr. Moseby. "Mr. Moseby, are you OK?"

Trembling, Mr. Moseby nodded, his back still pressed against the door of the suite. Cody lifted his arm and quickly brought it back down, the staff disappearing from his hand. He looked around at his mother, father, and Mr. Moseby for a long moment before hurrying over to the window. He looked out it again, watching as the clouds continued to swirl around, increasing the wind that was blowing. As he watched, he spotted quickly moving figures streaking across the sky and knew it was his friends going to see what was going on as well.

"I have to go," Cody said again.

Carey and Kurt nodded.

"Phantom?" Phantom flew up into the air and turned into his beat form. Cody quickly climbed onto his back and the water guardian flew away from the Tipton hotel. Wind whistling in his ears, Cody ducked low on Phantom's back and the two raced towards the scene. He caught up to Rhuben and Reihu on the back of DeathLiger. "What's going on?" He called over to them.

"Dunno," Rhuben shouted back. "We heard explosions, noticed Pat and No were gone, and came out here as quickly as we could." She looked up towards the sky as the clouds continued to swirl around. "Looks to me that the portal is opening again."

"That's exactly what I was afraid of," Cody replied. The elementals continued towards the area that they had seen Zack falling. Cody leaned over Phantom's side and scanned the ground, hoping that he wouldn't see what was left of his twin's body on the streets but couldn't see anything. All he could see was Julius and Maddie on the back of Rudin, sprinting along the streets, taking corners as quickly s they could, looking for their friends.

On the buildings around them, SpiritSaru was climbing up the sides, jumping onto the buildings close by, racing along rooftops, with Sydney clinging onto his back as carefully as he could. "Look!" Sydney called suddenly pointing upwards.

Cody looked up and, for a moment, thought he could see the stars, as he was looking directly through the portal. Then he noticed Zack, Patrick, and Noah. They seemed to be hovering in space. How was that possible? They were supposed to be falling from the sky towards the ground to their certain death. Unless…they were being pulled upwards, nevertheless the lack of body movement from the three boys or their guardians showed they had been knocked out.

There was another explosion and a shockwave ripped through the group, sending them flying backwards. Riley and Crystal, who were on the backs of DalFang and Dricer had been the first hit, as they were the closest to the boys at the time the shockwave came through. Their loud screams were abruptly cut off as the shockwaves sent them flying backwards. Tapeworm and Bailey were the next hit, sending them off in another direction.

"Get out of the way!" Cody cried. He gripped Phantom's wings in a way to signal him to turn around. Phantom had already started to turn, the quick movement causing Cody to roll to the side almost sliding off as he did so. "Move! Move!"

The shockwave moved quicker than any of them had anticipated. He could hear Rhuben and Reihu let out screams second before he was hit with the force as well. Cody let out a loud grunting sound and felt himself slide off of Phantom's back. Rolling through the air, he turned so that he faced the sky and watched as there was a bright flash of light.

Before he fell unconscious he could see the stars once more.

* * *

**A/N: **And now the first arc of the story is over and the next arc starts with the next chapter, I can bring in my other story plots. Yes, it's ambitious, but I think having the different POVs come in will make it move faster, rather than having it stick with Zack, Cody, and Bailey's POVs where everything is limited, though it worked for the beginning of the story.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	21. The Element World

CHAPTER TWENTY

* * *

"Tapeworm. Tape, wake up!"

Shifting, Tapeworm was subtly aware that he was lying on the ground. Not as if he was on the floor of a bedroom or a basement, but on the literal ground. He could feel grass, maybe hay ticking his stomach, arms, and face, a spider scuttling up his arm.

Normally he would've immediately jumped to his feet and freaked out over the idea of one of the most common of scary insects crawling on him, but he couldn't get up. His body ached all over, that energy wave that had blasted through them was really taking its toll.

"C'mon, you have to see this!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him firmly before he was rolled onto his side. A watery stream of sunlight washed over his face and his closed his eyes tighter together. With a groan, he brought a hand up to cover his face and slowly sat up. Shaking the drowsiness out of his head he opened his eyes and gave a start, looking around his surroundings.

"Did we go to Kettlecorn and no one tell me?" He managed to say despite his dry mouth. His eyes shifted over the high walls and ceilings of the barn he was lying in. He had been lying on the corner of a hay stack, in what appeared to be a stable for a horse. Turning around, he spotted Sydney and Aaron standing over him, arms crossed over their chests.

"No, Tape, we're somewhere else," Sydney said gently.

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "The thing is, though, that you've been here before…the rest of us haven't." He reached out and grabbed onto the teenager's arm and with Sydney's help, lifted him to his feet. "You need to see this," he repeated. "The others are outside."

Tapeworm allowed himself to be pushed forward by the eleven year old boys, shielding his face from the sunlight as he went. Zack, Cody, Bailey, Maddie, Julius, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, and Crystal were all standing just outside of the barn, all looking off in one direction. For the first time since the group had been together, they were all silent. Once Tapeworm's eyes adjusted he noticed his friends standing around, looking at the area around them. It was then that Tapeworm finally focused and his jaw dropped.

Looming in the distance was a large castle, the higher buttresses covered by the clouds that passed by. Just underneath it were the tops of the taller trees, providing shelter for the castle. As Tapeworm watched, large birds flew through the air. He squinted and closer, realizing that they were humans with wings protruding from their backs, arcing across the sky.

"You know where we are," Sydney insisted from Tapeworm's side, looking up at the taller teen.

Tapeworm swallowed thickly before nodding. "We're in the Element World."

His friends reacted in different degrees of shock but it was Cody that was the first to turn to Tapeworm and directly address him. "Are you sure?" He licked his lips, eyes moving around the trees that covered the barn they had been resting in. Tapeworm gave him a look and Cody held up a hand. "I don't mean to slight you; I'm just making sure of some things."

"Yes, Cody, we're in the Element World," Tapeworm said. He brought his hands up and rubbed them over his head. "Remember that dream I was telling you about…where I saw Max? I popped up in the middle of a farming community, this may be the outskirts of it, but this is the place, I know it."

The guardians appeared out of their masters and mistresses in different colored flashes of light. Standing in their human forms, they looked around as they took in their home. "Yeah, this is it," DeathLiger said in his low voice. He turned to face Rhuben. "We're back in the Element World. This is our home."

"But how'd we get here?" Bailey shook her head. "I don't understand." She turned to Geneva and Gattaca. "Do you know?"

Geneva, now dressed in a white tunic that resembled what Romans would've warn, smiled gently at the teenager that didn't have any powers on her own. She reached out and cupped her hand around her face before turning towards her brother. "We need to take them to the castle right now. Or else they're going to be in danger."

Nodding, Gattaca dusted his hands off. He placed them on his hips before looking around for a moment. "The direct path from the farm land into the kingdom will be the best way to get there. Once those around see that these children mean no harm it'll be a safe passage inside. Then we can speak with our mother."

He turned on his heel and he and Geneva started to make their way through the trees. Exchanging glances, the elementals started to follow them. Tapeworm fell into step with the middle of the path, holding out his arms as Ursa turned into his small form and climbed up into his arms. Tapeworm looked around the farms as they stepped out of the clearing and started to walk through fields of wheat, corn, and rice.

As the group watched those that tended to the area they noticed that some had powers, their hands glowing different shades of yellow, green, and brown, digging up the earth with their movements. Others dug the holes out of the ground with their hands or other tools they had on them, little kids coming up behind them and dropping seeds in the holes. Most of the men were whacking down stalks of corn or wheat with sharp, curved hooks.

"This looks like it'd be the earth area of the kingdom," Riley remarked. She smiled a little as a kid that appeared to be a toddler stumbled and fell over, his mother quickly coming back to his side and righting him again. "Seems very systematic, too."

"It runs a lot like the way things are done on Earth," Geneva agreed. "But they're a bit different too. Social order isn't a problem as those here are all on a level field except those that are in the castle. They hold a slightly higher guard as we're the ones that are doing their best to protect the whole world."

Zack made a humming sound as Blazen sat perched on his shoulder. Tapeworm glanced over at him. After his fall he didn't appear to have been seriously injured though there was a bruise on his collarbone, peeking out from underneath his shirt. "So Mother Nature and Father Time rule the Element world," he said. "Does that mean that they're invincible as Mother Nature claimed they are? You, too?"

"Invincible probably isn't the word you're looking for," Crystal spoke up. Her face screwed up slightly as she thought. "Because everything has a weakness, we just haven't been able to find it. Mother Nature…she stopped attacking us, we didn't kill her."

"She's got a point," Cody agreed.

"Be that as it may, it's not what we're focusing on right now," Julius pointed out. He tilted his head back and looked up at the castle as they inched closer and closer to it. Tapeworm followed his lead and tilted his head back as he looked at it. It was a magnificent structure, he could admit that. Still, nothing he ever thought he would see, especially considering he wasn't even sure if the last time he had been there was real.

_But you're so adamant that you saw Max, _he thought before being able to stop himself. The images flashed in his head seconds later. He was sure it had been real. So real that he had mentioned it to Zack and Cody, believing that Uriel was the voice that had haunted him in the cave that led to the door that brought them there. _Maybe the door is what connects both of the worlds. But if that were the case, how come we didn't use to the cave to get there now?_

With a frustrated grunt, Tapeworm shook his head. No matter how smart he as, he always found it to be more than infuriating than having more questions than answers. And for the past four—maybe five at this point—years of having dealt with Elementals and the Element World, there were nothing but questions only because no one knew what caused the Elemental World to come into existence in the first place.

The group continued through the farmlands and soon found themselves in what looked like a little village. Tapeworm immediately recognized it as the one he had been in his dream. The people he passed seemed to recognize him, giving warm smiles and nods. That or they were preconditioned to be as helpful to the group as they could be.

"This place is really peaceful," Patrick commented. His hands twitched at his sides. "Does it usually stay that way?"

"Don't question it," Noah warned. "The last time you said something like that we ran into an invisible wall." Bringing a hand up to his forehead, he gently pressed at a knot that was half-hidden by his hairline and winced.

Patrick shrugged. "I was right, though, wasn't I?"

"Please be calm," Geneva reassured the teenagers. "We'll answer as many questions as we can, as soon as we get into the castle and ensure all of our safety." She faced forward again, this time waving her hands and a light glow emanated from them. It covered them in a dome shape and disappeared from sight. "I have now placed a protective shield over all of us; there is no reason to fear unless you hear the sounds of the Mystic Melody."

"Mystic Melody?" Crystal repeated.

"The warning drums that tell of an attack on our kingdom," Dricer explained, dutifully walking at her side. "Kind of like…those air siren things that Bailey told us about back in Popcorn."

"Kettlecorn," Bailey corrected him. "It's Kettlecorn."

"What's the difference?" Reihu joked. "Both sound good to me. In fact, I'm starving. I wonder what they have to eat around here." Tilting his head back, he stuck his nose in the air and started to sniff. His eyes dilated as he looked off towards the right, at the dense trees that lined the outskirts of the village. "I smell fish…and salt water. Are we near the ocean?"

"There's a great fishing community nearby that the water bearers usually work; some choose to live out over there, but ones with powers and ones without can choose to live in any section of the kingdom as they want," Phantom explained from where he was perched on Cody's shoulder. "Just as long as they're close enough to help out when the Mystic Melody sounds."

"The humans here," Blazen took up the explanation. "They help in their own ways. It really depends on whether or not they decide to take on the power when it is time for them to have their ceremony."

"Wait a minute." Sydney frowned, appearing as if he had just been lied to. Carrying SpiritSaru in his arms, he turned him around so that his guardian faced him. "I thought you said that specific kids were chosen to have the ceremony. Not that they had a choice of whether or not they wanted to take in the power."

"I did," SpiritSaru agreed calmly. "But they do have a choice. When you're chosen to take on the power as children, it can be a pretty scary thing. So you have the option of postponing it until you're older so that you can make the choice when you really want to. The age that you take on the power of your element and animal spirit determines the rate of which you will age. This is why humans that don't take on the power age at a normal rate of those on Earth, while those that do age a lot slower."

"Is population control a problem in this world?" Maddie asked. She continued to look around at the village, it was so desolate and bare compared to what Boston was. And yet, the people there appeared happier than anyone had ever seen them. "If there are some that age a lot slower."

"Not when faced in battle," Gattaca said grimly. "As there is still death there. There is sickness…famine if the weather isn't going well, at the time that the powers of those on the island lessen to get some rest. When the world started to collapse with earth, the barriers weakening, some of what has caused…pollution in your world has hurt ours."

"That makes sense," Aaron agreed. "We've only thought about the collapse and how it's affected our world. How people there have become Elementals, probably the way they have here. How we awaken, how we function with the existence of Elementals. But this entire world,"—he stretched his arms out to the side and then up towards the sky—"we don't know a lot about it. Not even Dad, Uncle Reed, Aunt Renee, or Core knows what was going on here. They only got information on what they could get from the government and their own findings. This place is virtually…a blank slate for us and we never really bothered to ask the guardians about it."

"Are we the first ones from Earth to come here?" Zack finally spoke up, having been silent most of the way. All eyes turned to him and he regarded Geneva and Gattaca with a hard stare. "You're the ones that are going to take over the ruling of the world once Mother Nature and Father Time pass…and as they seem to be completely invincible it seems that you've been alive for a while as well." He cleared his throat. "Have there been any instances of people from Earth being able to get here before."

Gattaca shook his head.

"So why us?" Zack questioned. "Why were we taken from our home…our family and friends when we're needed the most?" His voice started to rise as the questions continued to fall out of his mouth, each one quicker than the last. "What is it that made us become Elementals in the first place? Was there something special about us that we don't know? Other than being exposed to it at certain times? It's said that every one in five people are Elementals and if that's the case, there'd be a lot of them, why don't we see any more of them?" He clenched his hands into fists, waiting for the answer, lower jaw clenched so hard that a vein in his neck started to twitch.

"Zack, calm down." Cody placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and squeezed it tightly. "I'm just as frustrated as you are, but that doesn't mean that we're not going to get this thing finally finished."

"And what happens then?" Tapeworm broke in. "Do we all go back to normal? Do we lose our guardians? Will it—" he broke off, hearing childlike laughter. The group watched as a group of little kids raced along the path as fast as their legs could take them in what appeared to be a game of tag. As they got closer, Tapeworm's eyes shifted to the smallest girl in the middle of the pack. She seemed to notice him too and slowed, walking over to him as she brought a hand up to cover her mouth.

The group slowed to a walk and they watched as the girl and Tapeworm continued to watch each other, her friends forgotten. Kneeling down to her level, Tapeworm continued to watch the girl as she did to him. _She looks really familiar, _he thought. All of a sudden a flurry of images slid through his mind's eye of himself and Max as they grew up over the years. Then they shifted to ones of when she was still alive and helping the others with her powers combining along with the others. She had been just as dutiful as the rest had been, using her power to the best of her abilities but knowing when to back off and wait for the best time to try and fight again. His mind's eye focused on one of the last images of Max as she and Canis tried to fight off Zhane.

"Canis?" He asked her.

The little girl's brown eyes lit up for a moment and she nodded, moving her hand from her mouth and she smiled at him, showing off spaces in her mouth where her new teeth were growing in. "Tapeworm," she said to him, her smile widening. She opened her arms and walked into Tapeworm, giving him a hug.

Tapeworm smiled and hugged her back then wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up to his side, holding her against his waist. She smiled and hugged him again, frowning when she got a good look at his hair. "No hair," she murmured, patting his shaved head.

"Yeah, I cut it all off."

"Wait a minute, you're telling me that this is Canis?" Maddie asked Tapeworm. "Max's guardian?" She shifted her feet, exchanging a glance with Julius. "I…I don't understand…I thought she…"

"Died?" Tapeworm broke in. "She did."

"The death of a guardian is different to that of a death of a human," Geneva said. She glided over to Tapeworm and Canis, gently running her fingers down the little girl's cheek, causing her to giggle and turned her face away. She rested her head on Tapeworm's shoulder, shyly looking at the group in front of her. "When an Elemental dies then the guardian dies as well, being transported back to the Element World to be reincarnated. However, if a guardian dies, then the Elemental's power is significantly weakened though they're still able to possess their powers." She continued to stroke Canis's cheek, the guardian's eyes fluttered in her drowsiness. "This little one had been reborn…she'll have the choice of becoming a guardian again or going on to be a human."

"But—"Julius was cut off by Gattaca, who seemed to anticipate what his question was going to be.

"A death on Earth works different than a death in the Element World," he said dismissively. "There's a better chance of being reborn if they're born there rather than here." His eyebrows twitched for a moment. "Please bring her with us."

"What about her mother?" Rhuben asked him. "Wouldn't we be taking her from her mother?"

"She resides in the nursery, she won't have contact with her mother until later tonight as her mother is a hunter and it would too dangerous for her to go along. Now, please hurry. We need to get into the castle before something happens and around here, you never know what it will be." Gattaca turned on his heel and he and Geneva continued walking once more.

Tapeworm shifted Canis up his arm once more; Ursa moving to his ward's left shoulder so that she had enough space. Leaning over, Ursa quietly sniffed her, causing Canis to giggle and push his head away. Ursa leaned back and turned towards Tapeworm. "It's really her," he murmured. "She really did get reborn."

"Yeah…" Tapeworm agreed.

"What's wrong, Master?"

Tapeworm was silent for a long moment. Should he go ahead and ask the question that had been haunting him ever since he heard about Uriel's powers? Or was it too selfish? On one hand it would help the group immensely, but on the other hand he only wanted to have his happiness back, knowing it would be revenge for Uriel and what he had done. Tapeworm's hands tightened around Canis and he consciously did his best not to hurt her.

_This happened…all of this happened because of Uriel. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have gone through so much pain and suffering. We wouldn't constantly be running around thinking we're going to die within a moment's notice, wondering what will be the next thing that'll tear our lives apart. The friends we've made…the ones we've lost…_

"Master?" Ursa pressed.

"If it's possible for Canis to have been reborn, do you think there's a way that we can do the same for Max?"

Ursa's eyes widened for a moment before his shoulders slumped and he lowered his head.

Tapeworm let out a long breath. "That's what I thought." He looked down at Canis who had fallen asleep, lulled by the rhythmic footsteps as they walked along. He managed to give a small smile, but his heart still hurt.

Uriel was going to pay.

* * *

Julius let out a gasp of surprise as he and his friends stepped inside the castle that resided in the center of the Element Kingdom. It was almost like it was straight out of medieval times, with stain glass windows, high ceilings, and the most regal architecture he had ever seen. Without a doubt it was where Geneva and Gattaca had grown up.

There was no other place that would be for the kids to have grown and learned how to harness their powers. It was in the center of their kingdom, protected on all sides by reinforced walls and patrols that went around every hour. The images in the stain glass appeared to show Mother Nature and father time over the years as the kingdom was built, maybe even reinforcing the story of the battles they had fought. It was hard to figure out exactly, but the fact of the matter was that it was a place that was held in high regard compared to the area around them.

Looking out one of the windows that didn't have stain glass, Julius could see a volcano in the distance with the crashing waves on the shores right behind that. It was strange to see, the kingdom holding different climates that lived in harmony with each other. If he looked out the other side of the kingdom he was sure he'd probably see a frozen tundra along with a dense jungle. What was it that allowed them all to live in harmony and was the Element Kingdom the only part of the Element World or just the light part?

"Please make yourselves at home," Geneva said as the group filed in through the lobby. "There are resting quarters through that archway. I'll go fetch my mother and father."

"There's no need." Mother Nature's regal voice sounded above them and everyone looked up to see Mother Nature and Father Time both standing at a balcony that overlooked the foyer. "We're right here." The two descended the stairwell that wrapped around a marble banister and walked over to the group.

Julius and the others instinctively shrank back as Mother Nature moved in front of them. The fight…it hadn't been so long ago, the mental scars were still fresh enough so that while they had been given a reprieve, it still hurt. She had been very ruthless when it came to her attack and while she had explained it to the means that she was trying to protect her world, Julius wasn't quite sure whether or not to believe her.

Then again, her name held true. A mother was willing to do whatever it took to take care of her children. And to Mother Nature, the entire Element World may as well have been her children.

"I understand that all of this is confusing," Mother Nature said. "And I don't blame you if you think that I should be the one that is telling you that you're going to be safe here, but I did what I believed I had to do to protect my world." She ran her hands over her flowing brown hair, adjusting the crown that sat on her head. "I hope you will take my apology."

"You nearly killed everyone in Boston," Zack pointed out. "Your arbori…they hurt a lot of people. We were…a lot of us were in comas for a long time." He hadn't lost the harsh glare that had been on his face since speaking to Geneva and Gattaca with as much malice as he could muster.

"I understand."

And that was all Mother Nature said before Father Time stepped forward to speak to Zack. "You were the one that I had contact with, aren't you boy?" He asked. Before Zack could answer, he smiled warmly, nodding. "Yes, the Elementals of Fire. I can feel that it courses through your veins, you were the one that had been speaking to me." He then turned to Sydney, whose eyebrows rose and he seemed to shrink in on himself. "And you're the one that got me into contact with him. You are very remarkable, indeed. Your spirit capability is very strong, though it doesn't seem strong enough for you to get in touch with _all _of the spirits around you."

"The spirits around me?" Sydney repeated. He shifted SpiritSaru towards Father Time. "Do you mean like SpiritSaru and Kazuki and Kazuaki?"

Father Time smiled at the young boy. "You don't understand the worth of the spirits, boy. But you have plenty of time. Time is of the essence as it is." He spread his arms. "All of you are stronger than you believe yourselves to be. These two,"—he motioned over to Zack and Cody—"they may be the strongest, but you all can do more than you think. Especially now that you're in the possession of the Element Stones. You're the ones that can take Uriel down, restore everything we know…but as the case is…mystery shrouds Uriel."

"You got that right," Riley commented, crossing her arms. "This guy is the one that…that caused basically everything and we can barely get a fucking scratch on him! His power is life, how are we going to be able to get the upper hand on that!" Her eyes flashed. "When he's able to take a life that easily, what'll we do if we get a hand on one of us?"

"Please, child, don't stress yourself," Mother Nature warned her. "There is plenty of time to answer the question we all have, but right now, you all need to get to get some rest, it was a tough journey bringing you all here."

"We have a reason for it," Father Time added. "But now's not the time to worry about it. Please, you need your rest. Food will be brought in soon." He waved an arm towards the sleeping quarters that Geneva had pointed them to before. "Gattaca will show you the way, Mother Nature and I need to have a conversation with Geneva."

Geneva nodded towards her parents and moved over to their side as Gattaca led the group into the sleeping quarters. There was one large room that served as a sitting area, filled with inflections of gold, silver, and ivory amongst the furniture and walls. There were other rooms that drew off of the main sitting room that held beds and a bathroom completely made from marble that overlooked the kingdom. Gattaca separated the group into their rooms and Julius found himself in a room with Tapeworm.

He watched as Tapeworm walked Canis over to his bed and gently placed her down inside it, pulling the covers up over her shoulder. The eldest of the Jacksons smiled to himself as he thought of the many times he had done that himself; to help out his mother and father to take care of their children. His smile faded at the memory of the fire that had killed his parents. One minute he was holding onto baby Sydney's hands as he helped him try to walk, next thing he knew he was surrounded by flames as his life crumbled around him.

Granted, he hadn't had as much of a bad life as his brothers and sisters, but in many ways he felt that he and Sydney were the worse off with what had happened. He had known his parents for eleven years and they were suddenly ripped away from him, Sydney hadn't known them at all when they were ripped away. The job of being a big brother was to protect his younger siblings and he couldn't even do that.

"Don't beat yourself up, Julius," Rudin said as he stretched out onto the floor beside his master's bed. "It wasn't something you could control as you hadn't awakened yet. Things happened the way they did and being stuck in the past won't help you."

"Won't it?" Julius asked. He realized he and Tapeworm had spoken in unison and he turned back to the younger teenage boy, who was looking at Rudin with an expression he couldn't quite place.

"Living in the past…what if that's what'll help us figure everything out," Tapeworm said. "That's the point of history. The past is what helps us figure out what to do in the future. To make things better."

"Working _with _the past and being stuck there are two different things," Rudin pointed out patiently. "The former being the lesser of two evils."

"So you want us to sit around and do nothing?" Tapeworm demanded. "Even when we were able to get into Father Time, someone that could probably help us get through everything."

"He didn't say that!" Julius snapped back, suddenly showing off his anger. He had done his best to keep it dormant for long, always being as level-headed as possible. "And don't think I don't know what you're thinking or feeling!" Tapeworm glared at him. "I can tell by the way you bloody look at Canis! She reminds you of Max and you're afraid that if you let that go, if you let something happen to her, you won't get her back!" Julius clenched his hand into a fist. "You're not the only one that wants to take Uriel's power and try to bring back something that was lost," Julius remarked. "Since he has the power of life and is able to take something, maybe he can give it back. I've thought of it!" Tapeworm's gaze lowered. "If I could bring back my parents…my aunt…" he took a deep breath. "If I could do that for my brothers, my sisters, and my cousin…I'd do anything." He held up a finger before pointing at Tapeworm. "But don't go running off into something that you don't know you can do yet."

"So what do you expect me to do?" Tapeworm snapped. "Sit here and wait?"

"No." Julius crossed his arms. "Sitting around and waiting for the inevitable isn't something I work well with and it's not something that I think will help us in the long run. When we get the chance…to figure things out more…then that's when we'll strike. But for the time being you need to remember that you're not the only one that lost someone you loved because of Uriel."

With that, Julius turned on his heel and headed out of the room at a steady walking pace.

With each and every step he took it left behind the feeling that he was running away from something and propelled him towards something.

Something he had been looking for, for a long time.


	22. A Look Into The Past V

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

* * *

"OK, smile!"

The flash of the camera went off and Christian stepped forward, taking off his graduation cap. "Thanks Mom," he said, giving his mother and father a bright smile. "We'll meet you at the restaurant later." He waited until they were out of site before turning back to his friends, his smile fading slightly. "You ready to go?"

"Are we ready to confront a guy that may or may not be an evil mastermind ready to kill us all?" Renee crossed her arms. "Yeah, I think we are."

Nathan managed a small smile as he looked over his shoulder, taking in the innocent people milling around the front quad. Graduation from college was supposed to be a festive time of year; a time where accomplishments and hard work put into a degree that would hopefully manifest in a career. He was supposed to be having the time of his life, celebrating with his family and friends as he already had a job lined up to get started on.

He should've been.

Yet the only thing he could think about was the fact that there was darkness lurking around their campus that could more than likely destroy them at a moment's notice. It was like Renee said, they were ready. He wasn't sure if the outcome was what he was looking forward to, nonetheless. There was a chance they could be walking right into their death.

Or creating the deaths of many others.

"C'mon, we should get going now." Turning on his heel, the bottom of his graduation gown dusted the tops of his boots as the group made their way towards the building that housed Professor Trethaway's office. He had been doing a good job of steering clear of the five students as the rest of their college career progressed.

Every moment they would try to get into one of his classes he would make sure they were put in another section. When any of them tried to catch him in his office, his secretary would tell them that he was sick and wouldn't see any of the students. There hadn't been any other incidents since they returned from Japan and as far as they were concerned, whatever it was that had taken over Professor Trethaway was probably watching them at all times.

Maybe lying in wait.

"So what are we going to do when we get there?" Kristen asked. She chewed her lower lip in anticipation as they went on. "Knock on his door and throw the element stone of light at him? It might work with demons and Holy Water, but something tells me it won't work here."

"There has to be a reason why he's been avoiding us, yeah?" Reed pointed out. "Maybe whatever it is that's taken him over is weak and doesn't want us to know." All of a sudden the sky darkened and the wind picked up, causing the group to stop and look around. "Beauty." He sighed. "I didn't think it was supposed to rain today." He tilted his head back and looked towards the sky, eyebrows furrowing together.

Kristen's frown deepened as she looked at the sky as well. "Something tells me it's not storm clouds."

"Something tells me you're right," Renee agreed. She shielded her face, turning away as the wind picked up even further. Decorations for the graduation brunch blew around the front quad, little brothers and sisters of graduates screamed, knocked over by the wind, people ducked in cover as the branches of trees around them broke off and went flying through the air, threatening to embed themselves into their targets. "What's going on?!" She shouted over the wind.

"I don't know," Christian shouted back. He had one arm covering Kristen's head the other shielding his eyes from the dust and debris as it flew around. The sky continued to darken as the seconds passed, the wind increasing even further.

Reaching his hands out, Nathan dug his fingers into the ground, crouching low so that he didn't allow himself to get picked up by the wind. His graduation cap went flying off his head, swirling through the air. Eyes narrowed into a squint, Nathan looked up and saw what appeared to be a opening forming in the sky….or was the eye of a hurricane? The winds swirled in a vortex and as he watched, he noticed a lone figure on the roof.

"It's Trethaway!" He called. _What's he doing up there? _ The group continued to watch as Trethaway stood on the roof, arms spread out wide. As the seconds passed and the vortex continued to grow, the teacher started to glow a dark, shadowy color, mixing in with the color of the sky. Bolts of electricity shot from the vortex, striking the ground at different intervals. "Quick! The stone!"

"Right." Renee reached into the satchel that hung against her side under her graduation gown. Carefully, she and Kristen pulled out the element stone of light and held it tightly in their hands. The stone glowed as brightly as the bolts of lightning that were raining down.

The stone started to shake in their hands, making it harder to keep their grip. All of a sudden it blasted out of their hands and rocketed up into the middle of the vortex. There was a second of silence than the loudest explosion any of them had heard, the shock wave ripping through the immediate area. Windows of the nearby buildings blew out, trees were felled, and the ground rippled and rose in front of them in waves.

As the group looked up towards the sky, there appeared to be a nebula hovering in the sky. The cosmic colors swirled around each other, gliding in and out, mixing and matching as what appeared to be stars gliding through the galaxy. The darkness continued to get sucked up into the vortex and when it disappeared there was one more bright blast of light bright enough so there was an absence of all color.

When Nathan woke up again he, Reed, Christian, Renee, and Kristen were sitting in their folding chairs in front of the graduation stage once more. As the president of the school announced their graduating class, their classmates stood up and whooped and hollered, throwing their caps into the air.

Nathan's mouth dropped open and he turned to his friends to speak.

"Yeah," Renee cut him off before he could say anything. "That really happened," She breathed.

"Did we go back in time?" Kristen asked quietly.

"Not so much back in time than the more probable thought of it being that things were reset so the existence of those that had witnessed what just happened wouldn't remember," Reed corrected her. "We only remember because we've been exposed to this before."

"So what happened to Trethaway?"

"I don't know."

Nathan swallowed thickly but didn't respond. He and his friends went through the motions of their congratulations and picture after picture once more, minds stuck on what had occurred that day. Even the next morning, when they were moving out of their dorms, they scoured the newspapers to see if there was anything mentioned in an article.

Nothing.

It was as if it had never happened.

Then they had all gone their separate ways.

Through the years that followed their graduation Christian and Kristen moved to Canada, Reed and Renee moved to Australia, and Nathan immediately went to work for the CIA as he had managed to crack through their firewalls and security systems in his freshman year, they constantly kept in touch. On the outside it appeared that they were doing everything in their job description, Christian moving up in the ranks to become a chemical engineer and Reed becoming a rocket scientist they continued to work on the elemental research they had stared in college as their side projects.

No one needed to know what really happened that day until they made a massive breakthrough in the project.

Not that Nathan would forget as ever since that day he answered to the name of Core.

Named after the day he was sure he and his friends had seen the core of what they would later learn to be the Element World.


	23. Impossible isn't a word in my vocabulary

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

* * *

The group as woken up the next day by dawn and had been seated at a table beautifully festooned with an assortment of foods they wouldn't have ever seen at home. Every piece of food imaginable sat on the table, surrounded with gold plates, goblets, and silverware for them to eat off of as well.

Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time had already been sitting at the table and they all sat up as the group approached. Zack, who had been angry at Geneva before, stared in surprise and a bit of envy. It was even larger than anything they would've ever had, even at the Tipton hotel.

No matter would they have ordered room service, it wouldn't have been that extravagant. Curiously, he sat down in the seat closest for the four that ruled over the Element Kingdom. Not only was it the best strategic move, so that he was prepared in case they had some sort of move they were about to make, but it was the best placement for him in case he felt that _he _needed to make the first move. Besides, what better way was it to check that there was some sort of poison or something in the food if he didn't watch to see if they ate it first?

He didn't think that Geneva and Gattaca would do anything; they had been protecting Bailey so well the past couple of years. Still, he wasn't going to let his guard down. So as he pulled back the chair, he watched to see if they were moments away from making a move. But the four continued to stand until the entire group was sitting before relinquishing their positions as well.

"I hope the food is to your liking," Father Time said calmly. "As well as that you all got a good night's sleep."

"Probably the best night's sleep I've ever had," Patrick admitted. "Considering the past couple of years that we've been running around. I didn't think that I'd ever get more than three or four hours of sleep ever again."

"Yes, we've noted that you have all had problems with sleeping as of late so we decided that we would put a sort of a sleeping spell on you," Mother Nature explained. "To be sure that you all got the rest that you deserved." She motioned to the table. "We thought the same for your breakfast. As we are well aware that your eating habit are not up to par as well."

"But giving us all of this food after we're used to not eating so much isn't good for our health," Aaron pointed out. "It's like with prisoners of war. Once they've been released again, they want to eat as much as they can because they've been starved for years, but that could just make their stomachs explode."

Riley, who had been about to put a piece of honeydew melon into her mouth, dropped it back to her late, wiping off her fingers. "I really didn't need to hear that," she remarked. Wiping off her fingers she pushed back away from the table and stared down at her plate, a slight frown on her face.

"Please, we're not forcing you all to eat," Gattaca pointed out. "Just have what you're comfortable with, as it stands there is a lot that we need to talk about and we figured it'd be better if we had a chance to do it when you have a full stomach."

Mother Nature stood up and clapped her hands together. "For those of you that preside in the Element World, I grant you the opportunity to visit with your families as I know you have not seen them since you left this world." As soon as the words were out of her mouths the guardians, who had been sitting by their Masters and Mistresses in their small forms, quickly bounded their way out of the rooms, in a miniature stampeded.

"Whoa!" Noah laughed. "Now I know how Simba felt with the wildebeest stampede."

Reihu glared over at him. "Is that some sort of a lion joke?"

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't, mate," the silver wind elemental shot back with a half smile. "You should see it when Rhu's running for food. She and Patrick are good at knocking the rest of us out of the way." He chuckled to himself as Rhuben reached out and knocked her brother on the arm, laughing as well. She then leaned over and gave her boyfriend a kiss on the cheek.

Reihu rolled his eyes but he couldn't help but smile as well. He reached out his hand under the table and took Rhuben's hand, gently squeezing it. It was a mixture of warm and cold, the way it always had been. He was pretty sure it had to do with her element being darkness. Not only did the darkness affect her in her sleeping pattern as well as keeping from being taken over by it, but it had different ways of taking on the words that described it—cold, being one of them. He sighed, thinking about his conversation with Core before having been transported to the Element World. He really needed to talk to her about it.

To get some insight before he told everyone else. They were in the same boat, in many ways; even though Core hadn't treated them that well, he was sort of a father to him and the rest of WingzCorp for the years they had been working for him and in the past he had been her father's best friend.

Figuring out the truth had really thrown him for a loop. That he had been relentlessly chasing these people, thinking they were the enemy, just to protect them. From what? Now they knew it was Uriel and how the whole story was coming together, it was really starting to make him worry more than he usually did.

Rhuben, seeming to sense his anxiety, squeezed his hand before looking at him seriously. "You OK?"

"Fine," he said simply.

She continued to study him. "No, you're not," she insisted. "I can tell."

"I'll tell you later."

Looking around the table he saw that all of the Elementals were smiling. Maybe it was because for the first time they actually felt safe. Even knowing how much Mother Nature had worked them all over while they were back on Earth—which was still hard to wrap his head around—there was an aura of safety.

Maybe because Mother Nature and Father Time were held in such high esteem out there.

And as she had said, she had been doing what she thought was best to keep her world safe. And while it was clear there was still a big sense of hesitation on the part of the Elementals, they could at least let their guard down a little bit.

"You can eat as much as you'd like," Geneva said, sitting down. It must've been the cue for breakfast to actually start, for Geneva and Gattaca both bowed their heads before they dug into the food. "We only gave you all of these options are we are very aware that there are allergies as well as likes and dislikes to work with as well.

"Well thank you," Bailey said politely. "It all looks very good."

Cody picked up his fork and immediately dug into the eggs that had been placed on his plate. He took a quick bite and nodded his approval. It was light and fluffy, much like the eggs they had back home…when they weren't burnt or had too much of one ingredient over the other. In fact, it was some of the best eggs he had ever had. And while it was a comfort he still couldn't help but wonder why it as that they were brought there.

_Why now? _He thought, continuing to eat. _Why not before? _Zack had obviously felt the same way, from his intense question that was thrown Mother Nature's way the moment she had appeared. _What was it, really, that had caused her to start attacking Earth? Did she sense Uriel long before we did? _His eyes suddenly narrowed. The better question was what was Uriel doing now that they were gone?

Was he lying in wait or was he going to attack them while they were gone. Did he even know they were gone? The questions continued to circle through his head over and over and he couldn't ignore them. He was glad when, after breakfast had been served that Mother Nature asked to speak with Zack, Cody, Bailey, Sydney and Aaron.

But he found it strange that Father Time had wanted to speak to Tapeworm, Julius, and Maddie. And while the groups were split apart, the Jacksons, Crystal, and Reihu went back to the bed chambers. He followed his brother and friends to a large room that overlooked the kingdom. He looked over at a podium that was in the middle of the room and walked over to it.

It was empty but looked like it was supposed to hold something of the utmost importance. Bailey moved up to his side and he noticed the hard expression on her face. He recognized it as the look she had whenever she was concentrating, trying to pull something out of her memory. Or it being eth same look she gave him when the two of them were about to get into some sort of a fight, trying to prove who was the smarter one of the two.

This time, though, she wasn't giving him any attention at all as she brought hand up to her chin. Lifting her gaze, she glanced at Cody for a moment before turning to address those that had been assigned to protect her. "Is this where the Book of Esme usually sits?"

Mother Nature, who had been standing on the balcony, looking down at the kingdom that she and Father Time shared, gently twisted around; the pleats of her royal attire gently drifted around her as she did so. "That's where it normally resides, yes." She glanced over at her children, who stood nearby. "I see you've told the child about some things."

"Wait a minute." Zack held up a hand, eyebrows lowered. That seemed to be his default facial expression now. He had gotten so used to being relaxed and having fun while in Australia, but now that all of this was starting to come back again, he fell back into his old habits. "What's the Book of Esme and how do you know about it?" He pointed over at Bailey, the accusatory tone in his voice not lost on the teenage girl for she lowered her gaze to the ground.

"The Book of Esme is a book of spells, fire child," Geneva explained to him. "Not only does Mother Nature have the ability to control nature in general, presiding over the Element World, but the spells are what she uses to be able to do that. Especially in an element she's not familiar in."

Gattaca added, "The Book of Esme is what Uriel was after when he attacked our castle when we were young."

Blue eyes shifting back and forth over the bearers of light and darkness, Cody had the acute feeling that there was something really wrong. "What's so special about it?" Cody asked. He looked over at Sydney, who had made a humming sound, eyebrows furrowing together. He looked like he had an idea. "Something to share, Syd?"

"A theory," he remarked slowly. "Something tells me that the prophecy has come from that Book, yeah?"

If Mother Nature was surprised, she didn't show it. "That's correct." She walked over to a blank wall and pressed her palm on a spot about five feet from the floor. The wall glowed brightly in a rectangle shape and when the glow faded the portion of the wall had disappeared too, covered with strands of ivy. Waving her hand, Mother Nature moved the tendrils of ivy apart and reached into the space in the wall.

Reaching inside, she pulled out a thick book. Flipping it open, she placed it onto the pedestal. "The prophecy came to the book some time ago. Father Time projected it down to you all so you could fulfill it."

"We thought we had done it before, but Zack and I couldn't do anything about it," Cody pointed out. "When we were fighting against Zhane, who we now know as him being a part of Uriel, we thought the prophecy had come true. We used the sword from the Luminescence attack that Patrick, Noah, and Sydney worked up—"

"Yes, but how do we know that it was an attack that was supposed to come from the three of them?" Aaron pointed out. All eyes turned to him and despite the fact he couldn't see, he managed to turn his head, speaking to each person in the room. "How do we know that it wasn't supposed to come from Bailey? I mean, when we projected Father Time into you, Zack, and Sydney spoke with him, we figured we were wrong about the eighteen years thing, how do we know we're not wrong about this, too?"

"Because I don't have any powers, remember," Bailey pointed out. She motioned to Geneva and Gattaca. "I get my powers from them."

"But do we know that for sure?" Aaron pressed.

There was a long silence that littered the room. It was a good question. How _did _they know for sure? Apart from the fact that she hadn't awakened despite having been exposed to Elementals for the past two years, maybe it was one, it's hard to keep time straight when they were constantly at a high-speed case.

"No," Cody admitted. "We don't."

Bailey scratched the back of her head. "But shouldn't I have awakened by now?"

"This is ridiculous!" Zack broke in. "If Bailey _were _able to get powers, it would've happened by now. It's impossible for—"

"Impossible isn't particularly a word that's in my vocabulary, mate," Sydney interrupted. "If it was, I wouldn't have been able to make that Element gun. And the plans for the energy canon wouldn't currently be in the works or I wouldn't be working with all of those professors back in Aus." He lowered his voice. "None of this would've happened."

Zack bobbed his head back and forth. He had a point. Before, his thought of having Riley as his girlfriend would've been synonymous with impossible. Not that his life revolved around her, yes he had a crush on her but he didn't trick himself into thinking she was the only one out there for him, which was also why he had dated so much. Then again, he had also been afraid of what some the girls would've said if they found out about his powers, but he digressed from that point.

Impossible shouldn't have been in their vocabulary, not after everything they had managed to fight off and had seen. If anyone had told him that he would've been able to accumulate the sort of powers that only superheroes had when he was thirteen, he would've said _that _was impossible.

"Ok, so say Bailey _is _the one that can help us finally defeat Uriel," he relinquished.

"She is," Geneva pressed. "And I believe you've all known that for a long time."

Zack ignored the statement. "What does that mean for the prophecy? It says the one with the eyes as red as fire, the one as shocking as the sea, the one whose inheritance the white pure blade. To voyage eighteen years from since they'd come, or the world in their hands would cease to become."

"We figured out the eighteen years part," Cody said. "Not it being the eighteen years since we were born, but the eighteen years since Core's, Christian's, Reed's, Kristen's, and Renee's first encounter with Uriel. Which would put it around the same age that we had awakened the first time." He blinked rapidly. "The red and blue eyes thing easily refer to me and Zack, since we're the ones that'll fulfill the prophecy. And now Bailey is part of the prophecy, too."

And that's where things got confusing for the Elementals once more. There was something they were missing, something that wasn't quite within their grasp and they were, pushing it away each time they got too close.

"Think long and hard, children," Geneva gently pressed.

"If you continue to think, you'll stumble upon it," Gattaca added. "You're really close to figuring it out."

Running his hands over his face, Zack let out a slight growl of frustration. He then placed his hands on his hips and stated to pace back and forth. It wasn't until he had nearly knocked into his brother that he realized Cody had done the same thing. Glancing at each other, the two started to smile, realizing they were doing the same thing at the same time.

They hadn't done that in a while.

"We have to go back in time," Bailey gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth. Even Sydney and Aaron, the boys that were the smartest she had ever known, the ones that, being the youngest had always had a wide-eyed innocent view towards the world, looked at her as if she were crazy. "When you were fourteen years old, there may have been something that happened, someone you met, something you did, that caused all of this to happen. What if we could go back in time to stop it?"

"I know I said that 'impossible' isn't in my vocabulary—"

"There are a lot of things that aren't in mine," Zack interrupted. "And time travel is one of them."

"Two of them," Cody corrected. "It's two words."

"Whatever!" Aaron threw his hands into the air.

"If you boofheads are done," Sydney snapped, eyes flashing. "Traveling back into time isn't just impossible, it defies the laws of physics, and science, and—"

"And so does everything being an Elemental is," Bailey insisted. She crossed her arms over her chest, flicking her auburn hair out of her face. "All of this defies the laws of physics and science and common sense but its here! And time traveling isn't impossible if we have someone here whose power is dealing with time."

Cody shook his head. "Even if that's the case….what do you propose will happen if we manage to make it back? Things are going to be…different. Changed. I don't think we would be able to handle the fall out."

"And, I don't remember anything happening back then," Zack admitted. His face screwed up in thought. "All I know is that WingzCorp had done nothing but chased us around and we did our best to fight them off as our powers grew each day."

"We don't have a choice, we have to try," Aaron insisted.

"And do what?" Cody snapped. "What do you expect us to do when we get there? Or get back. If that's even possible. There are too many risks at stake."

Bailey's eyes flashed as she turned towards her ex-boyfriend. She hadn't been so angry with him before. Not even before she knew about his powers, not after she found out, not when she was dragged along with them. Nothing could've prepared her for the intense irritation that had surrounded her at that exact moment.

"You didn't seem to have that problem when we were fighting Mother Nature!" She spat.

Cody growled. "I can't believe that you're bringing that up again." He jabbed himself in the chest. "I made the best decision I thought I could make. You knew what the risks were when we dug deeper and deeper into the prophecy and when that portal opened."

"You—"

"ENOUGH!" Zack shouted.

He shouted with so much ferocity that when he brought his hands up, he had accidentally shot out a stream of fire towards the wall, scorching it. Mother Nature flipped a few pages in the book and uttered an incantation in a language they couldn't understand. The burn mark on the wall immediately disappeared.

"I'm so sick and tired of having this argument all the time. What could we have done to have changed things? What could we have done to have kept it so that half of us didn't end up in comas or completely disfigured?" He motioned to the scars that were on his and Cody's faces. "I'm sick and tired of pussyfooting around and acting like nothing happened. Avoiding each other and conversations that we wish we could have but are afraid of what the initial fallout is going to be. We can't live like this anymore!

He finally lowered his voice. "I can't…I can't keep acting like I wasn't responsible for Max and Koto sacrificing themselves and I don't think I can live with that much longer without being able to talk about it. I hate having to know that Uriel is more than likely the one that killed the Jacksons' and Crystal's parents and not being able to tell them. I'm just tired. And we're going to do something about it. Now."

"What?" Cody blinked at his brother in surprise. "Why now?"

Not only did he not know the amount of emotion and pain his brother was carrying, but his outburst about it all. He didn't know he blamed himself for Max's and Koto's death, he didn't know that he was blaming himself for the decisions they made in their massive battle. He didn't know any of it.

The pressures of being the one that everyone looked up to had taken its toll and he was finally breaking.

"Because we can't wait anymore," Zack insisted. "We can't continue to keep things from each other and we can't continue to act like what happened with Mother Nature didn't happen." He crossed his arms over his chest, eyes flashing. "I'm calling a meeting. We need to talk about what happened and we need to do it _now_."

* * *

"I'm sure you're wondering why it was that I needed to talk to you," Father Time said as he brought Tapeworm, Julius, and Maddie into an enclosed room.

It resembled a dungeon, but it hadn't had the eerie feeling that all dungeons did. Not even the basement area under the State House had been as inviting as the room felt. Tapeworm, who was holding tightly onto Canis, gently lowered her to the floor. She, nevertheless, stuck close to his side, a hand pressed against his thigh, as if making sure he was still there.

"I couldn't help but overhear the conversation you had the night before," Father Time continued. "How you would like to be able to bring back those that you've lost." He looked the three in the eye. "What if I told you it was possible."

"At this point, I'd believe anything," Maddie said. She exchanged a look with Julius, who looked shell-shocked. She reached out and grabbed onto his hand. "I know it's…something he's thought about for a long time, but wouldn't talk about."

"Y-you can do that?" Tapeworm asked.

"No." Father Time took a step towards the three. "_You _can. But only by achieving something that no one has done before." He cleared his throat. "You need to harness some of Uriel's energy and use it to bring back the life that you've lost. However, that will prove to be difficult more than anything else you've ever done. Not only because Uriel is powerful, but because his power of life is also balanced by his power of death. But combined, it adds to the balance of the worlds."

"So what does that mean for Uriel?" Julius asked. He scratched the back of his head, frowning. "We know that Nature can't work without time, the passage of time can't work without nature. Just like light can't work without darkness and darkness without light." He swallowed thickly.

His mind moved at a mile a minute, flashing past images of him when he was growing up; images of the births of his siblings, of his birthdays, of Christmases and holidays past, of the time where he had been nothing but blessed, scrolled by. Now he was thinking logically, putting on the façade he always held. The one where he pushed aside the thoughts that kept him up at night, forcing him to feel the pain he hadn't really dealt with over the years.

No, now it focused on Uriel and everything that was sitting in front of him. He wasn't as smart as Sydney; the car accident from years ago had messed up his memory to the point where his short term memory was in a constant flux, grasping to remember things that had happened only moments before, and yet he was still very much focused when he put his mind to it. It all made sense, the opposite that attracted, the way things lived in balance, Uriel being able to control life and death when they had only thought about him controlling 'life', it made nothing but sense for him to…

"Does that mean that Uriel used to…" he trailed off.

"Yes," Father Time admitted. "Uriel presided over the Element World as well. The five of them were the forces that came together to keep everything in balance."

"So what happened?"

"Nothing of importance at the moment," Father Time waved off the question. "What you need to know is that Uriel can be stopped and you can have everything go back the way you wanted it too. But not without this." He spread his hands and the floor opened up to reveal another pedestal. As it rose out of the floor, there was a gem inside that resembled the Element stones. "This is the gem that the element stones had been carved out of many centuries ago. It holds immense power that can be used for the purpose of whoever holds possession of it. I believe that within your possession, you'll be able to return the loved ones you've lost and aid in the battle to restore everything there was about the Element World."

"What's the catch?" Maddie asked. She tightened her grip around Julius' hand, finding it shaking. There was a slight squeaking sound and Maddie looked over to find Tapeworm had a tight grip around Canis's shoulder and was pushing hard against her skin.

Canis made a sound of protest and pushed against his thigh. The movement caused Tapeworm to look down at the little girl and released his grasp, moving his hand to her hair, gently mussing it. He felt a need to protect her the way Canis had done for Max all those times before. Maybe it was his way to hold onto what was left of his girlfriend.

Until now.

Now that there was a way to get her back.

"We can't prove it'll work or that it'll be able to turn _everything _in the Element World back to the way it had before as we don't know if all of the five elements can live in harmony once more, but it'll be something we have to try. That we only have one shot at trying."

Tapeworm clenched his jaw. There was so much at stake and yet…this could help with having everything end once and for all. Once they had some of Uriel's power, he'd be weaker and things would finally be over.

They'd have everyone back. But how different would they be? Would it be like everything about their existence as Elementals would be erased? Or would they still have the conscious knowledge of what happened? There were so many questions that needed to be answered and yet…he was willing to do it.

Julius took a deep breath. "And this'll make it easier to defeat him?"

"Uriel can't continue to split parts of himself into others. Just like he can't continue to go back and forth between the two worlds, using the portal, or else it makes him weaker each time. Which is when he goes on to kill the innocent, taking the life out of people so that he can renew his energy." Father Time motioned to the gem. "This will aid that process."

"Got it," Maddie agreed.

Tapeworm, Julius, and Maddie all looked at each other once more. This wasn't a decision to be made lightly, but at the same time, it wasn't something they could wait for. Not when it would ultimately, finally save the worlds.

"We'll do it," Tapeworm said firmly.

* * *

Crystal, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Reihu, and Noah all sat in a semi-circle around the floor of the bed chambers. They all wore identical expressions of malice and anger on their faces.

"And then Core said that there's going to be a war between both worlds if things aren't stopped soon," Reihu said. He curled his fingers into his palms, eyes shifting back and forth as if he were watching his prey across the room. "That may have been what Uriel was after this whole time."

"How come you didn't say anything before?" Rhuben asked him.

Reihu's eyebrow arched. "I was a bit too preoccupied, wondering how we managed to get here," he said. Sighing, he brought a hand up to his mouth and licked the back of it before smoothing it over his hair. "Not to mention Core isn't the most credible person on the planet. What he wanted us to do as the DarkLions—"

"I'd rather not talk about that, thanks." Rhuben's eyes narrowed.

The thunder elemental stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankle. "When it all comes down to it, this is the best way to go," Patrick said under his breath. He leaned forward and glanced at the opening to the bed chambers, hoping no one would overhear them. "Once Uriel is out of the way…"

"Do you think it's what'll make us happy though?" Crystal pointed out. "That he would be dead?"

"Uh, yeah," Reihu said. "Why wouldn't it?"

Rhuben gave her cousin a sharp glance. "He killed your mother. Tried to kill you, considering you were in the car with her, and is probably planning something against Uncle Christian as we speak."

Crystal gave her a sharp look as well. "That's not what I meant," she insisted. "What I mean is would killing Uriel, rather than defeating him, reducing him to nothing, be the better option." She laced her hands together, clasping them around her upraised leg. "If we could weaken him, and banish him back to the Element world, that may be the better option."

Riley ran her hand through her hair, brushing it back over her shoulder. "What if he's the one that's cursed us?" She asked. Her eyes moved along her siblings and cousins. "Not only with the curse that you, me, and Rhu have to deal with, but the darkness too." She started to stab at the ground with her index finger. "He's the reason why so much has gone wrong in our lives. Why we had to go through so much fucking _pain_. And the only way to get rid of that constant pain is to _get rid of him_." Her eyes were wild with fury. "He needs to fucking die, there's no other way around it!"

"How do you plan on going about that, realistically?" Noah asked her.

"We haven't shown anyone, not even Zack and Cody and Tapeworm, everything we can do with our powers," Riley insisted. "We taught them everything they know, but not everything that _we know_." She thumped herself on the chest. "The motivation is there."

Crystal lolled her head back, looking at the ceiling. She felt the familiar grasp of pain around her heart. Her mother was gone. She wasn't coming back and it was all thanks to the…thing. She had watched her father fall into depression and she had stepped up to take care of him. He had slowly started to come back, to return to his normal self and he had really gotten there when he got the job offer to be a professor at UMass. The move had been easy, her cousins were there, they had found and adopted Aaron, then her cousins moved in and everything was great. Their lives had changed for the better…then it all started to fall apart again.

The grip on her heart turned into a cold, icy shield of protection. _He was the one that started it all again. We were so happy and now…_"You're right," she murmured. "This is the only way."

"So what's the plan?" Patrick asked. "It's going to be hard to come up with what's going to defeat him, especially if he's that powerful."

"We'll think of something," Rhuben said firmly. "We have to."

"And we will," Noah agreed.

"We will," Riley repeated in a harsh whisper.

* * *

**A/N: **And now you see the three main plots for the story.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	24. It's only a matter of time

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

* * *

Uriel watched as his minions patrolled the city. No, he wouldn't call them minions; he'd call them grateful followers. Ones that believed what he was doing to be what would help both worlds. And he wasn't going to be apologetic about it.

Mother Nature and Father Time had banished him; he managed to escape without getting put into an ethereal prison where he knew he would never see the light of day. No matter what they tried to do now, they previously made a grave mistake and would never be able to redeem themselves. He had the government o his side, having watched them from the very beginning of time, having been on Earth for so long, he knew their weaknesses and exploited it.

It had taken a lot of his power, a lot of his energy to put himself into the bodies of so many personnel but it had been worth it. All of those in Boston, humans and elementals alike—awakened and dormant—they were under him. Standing atop of the large business office, he watched with satisfaction as those that were still inside the buildings, trying to hide from him, were dragged out, kicking and screaming before being separated and taken to the camps that were specific to him.

It had been the fault of those on Earth; they had given him the idea. All of the different interment and concentration camps they had come up with over the years, it was way too easy to see what they had done over the years—taking POWs and watching how they directed their wars and conflicts—just by adding in his own powers of life, death, and manipulation, he had taken the couple of weeks that those Elementals had been gone and used it to bring his plan into fruition.

Giving a short sigh, Uriel gently gliding down from the rooftop and landing on the ground next to the large bus that was being use to transport those out to their respective camps. He went over to the marine that stood aside the truck, a high powered rifle held steadfast in his hands. When he saw Uriel coming, he stood up straight and gave a salute.

"Sir, there are no elementals found in this building, they are being transported to the human camp right now," He said.

"Good job, Kross," Uriel said in his low, velvety smooth voice. He shifted his eyes, watching s faces filled with fear pressed against the windows around them. Cheeks, streaked with tears, women held each other, comforting each other. Men tried to stay strong for the women, not showing the anger, fear, and confusion they felt as they were finally found. "Have you found Diamond?"

Uriel had known there were going to be those that were on the side of the Elementals, many of the ones that were still in Boston, some from the neighboring cities had flown in and started a resistance against him, so far they hadn't been able to help. However, there were those civilians that wanted to help them out, Diamond being one of them.

He had been working along with the Elementals long enough that it would be hard for Uriel to turn him to his side. He had tried once before, when he instructed the original capture of them in the State House, then he had turned and sided with the Elementals and was now gone.

No matter, he had the rest of who was important to them.

"No, sir," Kross replied. He looked over as there was a commotion at the front of the bus. Those that were in the front had tried to get back off once more, throwing punches and thrashing around as the marines that had surrounded the bus fired back upon them. Using the butts of their rifles, they pushed the civilians back onto the bus and closed the doors. "He must've run off with the resistance, we can't find him anywhere. But we haven't given up; when one of us goes AWOL there is always a quick and swift punishment to that action."

Uriel nodded.

Kross turned back to the bus and the marines that stood around it. He was the commanding officer of that little faction, Uriel's mark had been placed upon him and he was going to get the job done. "Move out!"

Stepping back, Uriel watched as a couple of marines climbed onto the bus, guns pointed at the passengers and Kross got back into the armored truck that would direct them to the camp for humans. Turning around, Uriel started towards the building that had just been occupied. Holding out a hand, a large, white orb of energy shot out an enveloped the building. He lowered his hand and smirked.

Whatever or whomever had still been inside, hiding, wasn't alive anymore. He had made sure of that.

Death was nothing short of a passing thought to him, especially those that deserved it. He still remembered the deaths he had created that had been the most satisfactory to him. He had tried to kill Akito and somehow he managed to hold him off, that had been his first major setback. It damaged him enough so that it took a long time for him to regroup. It was why he had chosen to put himself into the body of someone almost permanently. It had taken years as he popped form person to person, then he had finally found someone that could take on his energy; and that was where Trethaway came in. The man was smart; he had a lot of knowledge and power in him and knew it would be a great place for him to hide out while he tried to regain his energy.

The man was unassuming, who would think that a college professor would be the one that would harbor one of the most dangerous beings from the Elemental World? He had been living in peace and quiet for a long time, regaining his strength day by day, almost back to his normal self when those five young adults teenagers had gotten in the way; Nathan Reeves, Christian Manning, Reed Jackson, and Kristen and Renee Hiroshima. And as time went on, they continued to dig into the existence of elementals over and over and he couldn't help but get angry.

The discovery of the Element stone of light, their constant times of trying to get into contact with him, to expel himself from the professor…it was maddening, pushing all of his hard work back as far as being banished to Earth in the first place. So he struck back and attacked them at least once, to show them his power and then had disappeared, going off the grid and lying in wait. The wait had been long coming until the time they had been perfectly vulnerable.

Getting to Reed and Renee had been the easiest. There they were in their house filled with children back in Australia. They had completely let their guard down; despite the work they had continued to do with Elementals in secret. It had been such a quaint family picture, four kids running around, the youngest just learning how to walk, all scattered throughout the house. That's when he had seen the energy of an awakening elemental accompanied by his own energy. He had watched the family long enough to know that some of them were marked b the curse that he had placed upon Akito; the one awakening must've been one of them. Concentrating hard on the power, he took command of the awakening fire elemental and used the power to set that fire that had ultimately taken the lives of those he wanted.

It would've been better if all those inside had perished, but he was glad that the two were out of his way.

Then he had found Christian and Kristen and that's where his plan originally failed. Christian was supposed to have been in the car with his wife, not his daughter. He had lied in wait as they drove along and then struck, using his powers and immediately taking the life of Kristen when he had a clear shot. The car had crashed and he was incensed to learn that it was his daughter that had been in the car, not Christian. He had become even angrier, seeing that he couldn't even kill the daughter. But he had noticed that she had some of his energy in him as well, another one affected by the curse.

He had to keep her alive.

Then Nathan had all but disappeared and when he had reappeared he seemed to be doing Uriel's' work for him, so he was spared. But he kept a close eye on Christian as long as he felt he needed to, waiting until it was time for the inevitable, for the worlds to fall apart and he could come back and conquer both.

"It's only a matter of time," Uriel murmured.

* * *

"London, please stop crying. Everything's going to be OK."

London lifted her face from her hands, wiping away her tears. She looked over at Mr. Moseby, Esteban, Carey, and Kurt as they sat around her with the others that had been assigned to their bunk. If they could call it that. It was more like a…farm of some sort, the ones that Bailey had always been talking about.

Or was that a barn?

She didn't know. Nor did she care. Things had gotten worse since having gotten off of the SS Tipton. She wasn't stupid, no matter what people thought of her, something was going on. There were so many inconsistencies in her memory and events that had gone on around her. And the next thing she knew, the Tipton hotel had been attacked and everyone had been captured and transported to the camps before having been separated.

She had seen a lot of the Tipton staff go one way while she was directed another and forced into the barn. She had heard the little whispers, that those that were sent off to the other camp had some sort of powers or had tried to fight back in extraordinary ways. She didn't know what to believe anymore. Not even her wealthy father could help her now.

"No, it's not!" She turned to Moseby, who sat by her side, arm around her shoulders.

He had been more of a father to her than his own father had been. And while he was doing his best to stay strong for her, she could see how worried he was. "If what you said about Zack and Cody is true…why haven't they come to help us? It's been weeks since they disappeared and they haven't come back to try and help us. They've abandoned us."

"That's not true, London," Kurt said firmly. "They've been helping Boston and everyone that's been oppressed as long as they've had their powers." He shook his head. "They wouldn't sit back and watch as the city gets taken over. They managed to defeat the last threat, they can defeat this one."

"Then where are they?" London's repeated question continued to stay unanswered.

She had been asking for the blond twins and their friends for as long as Uriel first made his appearance. London had gone flying down to the suite on the 23rd floor, knowing that Zack and Cody had to have been the reason for that huge explosion. But when she entered the suite she found Kurt, Carey, and Mr. Moseby all staring out the window with different expressions of worry.

"Alright, what did they do to Daddy's hotel?" She snapped.

"Zack and Cody aren't here, London," Carey replied quietly. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, knuckles turning white from the force of the blow. "They're gone." Her voice was sort of flat, but still held a lot of emotion that any mother had for her children.

"What do you mean they're not here?" London walked over to the group of adults as they continued to look out the window and look out the window, and followed their gaze. She gasped when she caught the tail end of the portal closing. "What is that?"

Carey and Kurt had changed a glance with Mr. Moseby and explained to them what they knew about Zack, Cody, their friends, Elementals, and their guardians. London absorbed as much of the information as she could understand, but it was all so surreal. Powers? Guardians? Elementals? It sounded like something out of a comic book.

But still…it explained why Maddie and Julius always had to drop their plans at the most inopportune moments and run off. It explained the bruises that Zack and Cody sometimes had. It explained the standoffishness that Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Crystal had towards her. It explained a lot and part of her was surprised she hadn't figured it out before. But the twins had always been a little weird.

And now here they were, in captivity without knowing what was going to happen next. She had seen that man, with the flowing black hair; she had seen how he killed people without touching them. Was that going to happen to them?

"You have to put faith in Zack and Cody and their friends, sweetie," Carey whispered from her other side. She reached over and gently ran her fingers through the hair of the Asian girl. "They've done this so long and they haven't given us a reason to stop believing in them."

"There're rumors going around that there's gonna be a resistance of some sort," Kurt murmured. "Not form our side, but from the Elementals side." He tilted his head vaguely in a different direction. He sat hunched forward, arms wrapped around his knees, eyes directed towards the opening of the barn, but speaking to his friends and family. "There are more out there than we originally thought. Things'll work out."

"And what if they don't," London whispered.

There was a brief moment of silence.

No one wanted to think about what would happen if they failed.

"They will."


	25. What if I try to stop you?

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

* * *

The Elementals gathered into a large room with high ceilings, their footsteps echoing along the high, painted ceilings, as they went. The air around them was thick, filled with the tension that had been surrounding them since their fight with Mother Nature. As long as they had continued to ignore the things that had happened in the aftermath, there was always that hint of aggression and underlying revulsion that couldn't be ignored.

And while the group had convened to speak about everything that had been following them around, the risk of everything imploding was greater than the risk of them losing their lives in the long run. Zack waited, resting his face in his hands as his friends all gathered around until they were all settled.

"OK." He dropped his hands from around his mouth. "I know this has been long time, coming. And I know we were all planning on putting it off as much as we could, but we can't do that anymore." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm tired of always arguing about the same things and I'd like to finally clear the air around it." He held up his hands, as if trying to grab a basketball that was about to strike him in the face. "Throughout the fight with Mother Nature, we had to make a lot of decisions that we didn't always like."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bailey glance at Cody before lowering her head and looking away. Cody crossed his arms, shifting in his chair. His lower jaw jutted out as he quietly shook his head, radiating his frustration.

"And I know that a lot of us got hurt or worse…but we have to remember that we were doing what we thought was best to save the world and in the end, we did. But it's still something that I knew we all think about and we _really _need to get off our chest." Zack sat up straight. "I know that going right into battle I didn't have a great plan and that some of us got hurt pretty quickly and I apologize for that. The new power we had, Cody and I…it was hard to control and things got _out _of control and I really hurt some people and while I do my best to make sure that I don't have it constantly haunt me, is hard."

Zack lowered his head, thinking about the biggest mistake he had made that had caused Blazen—and in turn himself as they shared a physical connection—to get really hurt so soon in the fight.

They had just left the State House and had gone outside to find their wildest nightmares had come true. There was, what they now knew, was a portal that had opened between Earth and the Element world and as the elementals watched, Mother Nature's footmen, the arboris, continued to stream through the portal and into Boston, causing instant chaos as they landed.

The arboris then started to attack everything in sight; cars, buildings, trees, innocent people that tried to get away. The arboris appeared to be human, as Tapeworm had told them, their skin a light green hue, however, as they attacked vines shot out of their hands and fingertips, whipping and choking whatever came their way. The group watched as an arboris snapped his arms, with vines extending out and whipping a man in the back.

The man screamed and writhed with pain as he fell to the ground, a crimson line appearing on his back. And as the group watched, stunned the arbori continued to attack the man until they heard the worst sound coming from him.

Silence.

The arbori had just killed the man that had, just moments before, a life ahead of him. All in a matter of seconds. This was certainly going to be harder and more difficult than any of them had thought. Zack exchanged a glance with Cody and noticed he appeared just as scared as he was.

"Oh boy," Julius breathed.

"My thought's exactly" Maddie agreed.

"That's what Mother Nature used to attack the people in the Element world," Tapeworm explained, licking his lips. His hands were clenched into fists and he took an instinctive step backwards, readying himself for anyone or anything that came his way. "They're called arboris, and as you can see they resemble humans, but they're completely made out of earth, grass, and vines."

The destruction they had managed to place upon Boston in such a short amount of time was devastating. The arboris moved quickly and efficiently, taking on their next target once the one they had originally fixated on had been defeated. And as the elementals watched, the arboris noticed the group of teenagers and leapt to attack.

The teenagers spread out and immediately started to fight back.

"Cascade Crush!" Cody blasted a jet stream of water towards a couple of arboris and watched as it blasted them back away from him. He twisted to the side and punched another one in the stomach then grabbed onto his wrist, flipping it onto the ground.

He let out a cry of pain and a red slash appeared on his arm, and arbori had used a vine to cut him. _This is going to be harder than I thought._

"Man, they keep coming in droves!" Reihu cried. He jumped high into the air, did a flip, and transformed into his lion form. When he landed on the ground, he roared loudly and charged forward, slashing at an arbori that had snuck up on Rhuben's blind side.

Zack let out a grunt of pain, red hot fire had slashed across his face. The force of the blow sent him spinning to the ground. He groaned, getting back to his feet, watching as the arbori moved closer to him. For a moment, he briefly wondered about those that were watching all over the world; he could hear the beats of the propellers of helicopters, knowing they were trying to get the news of the battle out the best they could. Zack painfully pushed himself back to his feet and looked around, trying to figure out a plan.

His mind raced a mile a minute, working out different plans of attack and formations in a matter of seconds as he backed away from an arbori that had aimed a vine whip towards his stomach. Taking a step forward, he shoved a flaming fist into the stomach of the arbori, causing it to immediately burst into flames and wither away.

He jumped backwards a few feet then waved his friends over to him. All of a sudden there was a bang and a bright flash and saw Sydney lower his Element gun, a stream of fire coming out of the front of his pistol. _That Element gun must really come in handy, _he thought. _If anyone deserves some sort of prize, it's Syd. _He turned back to his friends, licking his lips. Glancing at Sydney, the young boy nodded and summoned his staff, raising it high in the air and producing a protective barrier around the group.

He looked up towards the sky, shielding his face from the sunlight that streamed in. "Ok, what we need to do is see if we can keep these things from coming in," he said. As the group watched continues streams of Mother Nature footmen arrived on Earth. "The more that we can keep from reaching Boston, the better things will be for us and that's not including the fact that we don't know if they're _only_ arriving n Boston. So whoever can go up to the sky should do that, everyone else should stay down here and try to fight off as many of these as we can." Wiping sweat off his forehead, Zack turned towards Maddie. "Maddie, we need you to be around to make sure that we can get healed whenever we need it, so try to stay out of the fight as much as you can."

She nodded.

"Patrick, Noah, Cody, and Sydney you try to stop those that are coming in. The more we can defeat before it gets to us, the better off we'll be. Rhuben, Bailey, and Reihu, you three go see if you can find Mother Nature and hold her off the best you can until the rest of us can get there. Crys, Tapeworm, Riles, and I will stay here and fight those on the ground."

"What do you want me to do?"

Zack turned around to see Diamond standing behind him an arsenal of weapons hanging off of his body. Zack gave him a grim smile. "Whatever you can do to help."

Diamond smiled. Sydney stepped forward and handed the soldier the pistol he had been holding and a colorful array of bullets. Diamond nodded and accepted the items, filling up the chamber in a matter of seconds. Then he dropped the pistol into an empty pocket before retrieving a drawstring bag from his pocket. "I've got something that might help you guys." He opened the drawstring back, a bright light radiated from inside.

"It's the Element stones," Aaron said.

As the group watched, the stones continued to glow a bright color as they lifted out of the bag and into the air, forming a small circle. There was an open spot. Zack took the red element stone out of his pocket and held it up. The stone shone a bright red and completed the circle.

"With the element stones, we'll be able to gain more power to use against Mother Nature," Aaron continued. "I heard Dad talking about it once, they enhance the power of whoever has it, but…I also heard that they're able to unleash a new sense of power if used the right way."

"That's helpful," Riley said. She looked out of the protective shield and noticed that the arbori were backing away from them, as if cowering in fear. "Looks like it's something that we can really use, yeah?"

"You have to try," Bailey encouraged. "You never know what could happen." She closed her eyes and a moment later, Geneva and Gattaca appeared at her sides. She smiled up at them. "These two can help try to close the portal, I'm sure that they can do it if their mother was able to open it."

"We can't guarantee anything, but we'll do our best," Geneva said.

Gattaca nodded.

Zack raised a finger to his mouth and started to chew on his fingernail a habit he had broken years ago. There were so many things to decide; they had the current reprieve of being attacked, they were going to be showing their real identities to the whole world, and then there was the possibility of not being able to control the powers of the element stones as they took it into their possession.

Noah seemed to have noticed his apprehension for he took a step forward and placed a hand on Zack's shoulder. "You have to try it," Noah insisted. "We don't have any other choice."

Zack closed his eyes. "Ok, ok!" He ran a hand through his hair.

"There seems to be a stone for fire, water, darkness, thunder, light, and nature…which I would assume that the stones come for the most common elements," Cody said as he moved towards the light blue stone. He waited as Zack, Rhuben, Patrick, and Tapeworm stepped forward behind the stones that represented their element. "Ready?"

They nodded.

Each of them reached out and took the stone in their hand, letting the light element stone remain. It stopped shinning and started to drop to the ground, but Aaron grabbed onto it and gently cradled it in his hands, his sightless eyes trained on the spectacle in front of him.

The stones glowed even brighter than before, the color reflecting in everyone's eyes. Zack was used to the rush of power, as he had held onto the stone before, but the sense of strength still overwhelmed him. The stones continued to react in a peculiar way; as Zack's and Cody's stones started to diminish in brightness, the other stones continued to glow brighter and brighter. Tapeworm, Rhuben, and Patrick extended their arms and the stones brightness turned into a beam of energy that combined into a wave of purple, green, and yellow. That beam then dispersed into Zack's and Cody's stones, causing the fire and water stones to shine so brightly that everyone had to cover their eyes.

There was a distinct cracking sound as the red and blue light completely engulfed them.

When the light faded, everyone could see that the darkness, nature, and thunder stones were broken; resting in fragments in their respective owners' hands. They had transferred the power from their stones into Zack's and Cody's, giving them as much power as possible.

"Whoa," Cody said, feeling the energy wash over him. His eyes glowed a bright blue. He looked over at Zack and saw that his eyes were glowing a bright red. He took a deep breath and dropped the stone into his pocket, turning to his brother. "You ready?"

"Try and stop me." The determined smile on Zack's face was the first that had been seen in a long while.

Sydney immediately lowered the shield and the group went their separate ways to start fight.

Zack ducked out of the way as an arbori flew towards him and he aimed back kick at it. He turned back to the arbori and sent a stream of fire, the largest one he had ever managed to produce, to it, immediately reducing it to ash. Zack's now red eyes flashed with excitement as he watched his enhanced abilities and turned the other way, his smirk widening. He used his enhanced speed to race through the streets of Boston, attacking arboris left and right, reducing them to ash in the blink of an eye.

All of sudden he felt a heavy weight on his back and he lost his balance, careening into the side of a brick building, side first. He let out a scream of pain, feeling his shoulder get knocked out of its socket almost immediately. He turned around, leaning against the building, breathing heavily through his nose, a sheen of sweat immediately appearing on his forehead. An arbori, the size of an average sized man, but with the arms of a body building, headed towards him, snapping its vines against the ground. As Zack watched, the cracking of the vines against the asphalt sent a shower of sparks with each hit.

Keeping his bad arm at his side, Zack lifted his left as a vine slashed for him. His knocked the vine aside and the arbori came back with a sweeping gesture of his left arm, bringing another vine, the thickness like that of a rope. As it headed towards him, Zack clenched his hand into a fist and concentrated hard, feeling the power move through him and his arm immediately burst into flames. Opening his hand, he caught the vine a second before it could reach him and he sent a twisting line of fire up the vine and towards the arbori.

To his surprise, the arbori pulled back on the vine, pulling Zack closer to him. The arbori grinned, teeth like stones lined up in two, neat rows in its green mouth. The arbori brought up his other vine and whipped Zack across the face. He screamed, feeling the skin flash off of his face in a straight line. "Flash Fire!" Zack brought up his bad arm with extreme effort and sent a shock of a quick moving fireball into the arbori's face.

The arbori stumble back and Zack fell to his knees, the pain from his dislocated shoulder practically blinding him. Gritting his teeth together, he screamed with effort, feeling the rush of his power slide through his body. A wave of fire shot out and crashed into the arbori in front of him, however it didn't appear to fall.

All of a sudden Zack felt pain all over his body and rolled onto his back, letting go of the vine that he had a death grip upon. In the distance he could hear the sounds of battle and his friends' cries of pain and attack. Looking above him, Zack could see multiple arboris had converged around him as he had been fighting the large arbori.

_Dammit, _he thought, recognizing he had fallen into a trap.

He closed his eyes as he waited for the vines to fall down upon him. It took a few seconds, but then he did feel the pain, but not the sort of paint hat came upon his physical body. But his connected one. Then the screeching cry reached his ears and he looked up, watching as Blazen stood over him, wings spread out as far as they could, wincing as vines whipped along his back. As the fire elemental watched, Blazen writhed with pain, clumps of feathers glued together with blood flying off in different directions.

"Blazen!" He cried.

"Zack…get out of here…" Blazen managed to grind out. "I can hold them off!"

But then Blazen had fallen, on top of the fire elemental, his body blocking the human from the blows that continued to rain down upon him. Zack brought an arm up and grabbed onto Blazen's wing, feeling his fingers slip over the blood that continued to run out of his wounds, and closed his eyes. He concentrated on his speed, getting up quickly and hurrying back over to Maddie, who was doing her best to protect herself from the arbori that converged upon her, Julius and Diamond teaming up to knock the arbori back.

"Zack!" Maddie noticed the fire elemental suddenly come to a stop near her, crouching on the ground with his guardian in his arms. The blonde hurried over and came to a stop by Zack, falling to her knees. She reached out and grabbed his face, causing him to wince and turn his head away. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," he choked out. "Don't worry about me." He flicked his hair out of his face, trying to remove himself from Maddie's grasp, but she held him tightly.

She frowned, glancing at the gash underneath her hand as she healed it, the line slowly disappearing. "This is going to be a nasty scar," she warned him. Then her eyes moved over to his arm. "And that's going to hurt."

"I don't care!" The fury in his voice started Maddie into dropping her hands away from him. "Help him, please." He motioned to Blazen once more, noticing his breathing had slowed down. Now being able to look down at the criss-cross pattern that had been put onto his guardian's back, the pulpy, raw skin stretching and sinking as Blazen breathed painfully.

Maddie placed her hands on Blazen's back and started to heal him. Zack watched, breathing painfully, his anxiety rising as the seconds passed. Looking into Maddie's face, he saw her cheek twitch before her eyes lowered. Leaning down, she lifted a glowing pink hand before replacing it on his back. A few seconds passed and she shook her head, before lifting her hand again.

Zack leaned forward and looked down; feeling his face lose all color as he understood what had Maddie so upset. The gashes weren't getting healed, no matter how long Maddie held her hands over him.

"I…I don't," she started to say. "Zack, I'm sorry, but he's not healing."

Zack's breath caught n his throat. _No_…_not again, _he thought. Images of Max and Koto immediately filled his head. He remembered the way they had gotten in the middle of the attack that had been meant for him. He watched the scenes unfold in his head over and over again in quick flashes and turned his head. _No! _"Maddie…just do what you can to help him, I need to keep going."

"But Zack—"

"Please, just do this for me." Zack gently moved Blazen off his lap and placed him on the ground. He knelt down by his guardian and ran his fingers over his head. "I'm sorry, Buddy. I'm so sorry." He continued to rub his friends' head. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"Zack, you need your arm fixed before you can—"

Zack reached over and grabbed his bad arm. He closed his eyes and grabbed onto his wrist and jerked it forward as hard as he could. There was an audible cracking sound and he was nearly blinded with pain. He waited until the pain subsided to a dull ache before turning on his heel and running back into battle again.

Now sitting back in the castle in the Element World, Zack crossed hi arms over his chest, looking back and forth from Tapeworm to Riley. "I'm sorry about what happened to Max and Koto. If I ever had the choice, I would've given up my own life before I had one of them make that choice for me. I couldn't think of it happening again."

"Then I hope you'd acknowledge that sending some of us up to the portal almost had the same effect," Patrick said evenly, resting his arms on his upraised knee. "No, Cody, Syd, and I were outnumbered so quickly I'm surprised we're still alive." He shrugged. "Then again, that coma I was put into probably had me catch up on the most amount of sleep I've had in a long time." He grinned, laughing to himself before moving a hand up to cover his mouth. "I'm sorry, that wasn't funny."

"Please laugh," Cody said with a wave of his hand. "I haven't had the ability to do so for a while." He sounded subdued.

"I apologize for that as well," Zack said. He was silent for a long moment. "I'll admit that I feel like a lot of this is my fault."

"What?" Crystal cried. She tilted her head back slightly, her long ponytail gently dusting the floor of the chair she was sitting in. "Zack, nothing about what happened was your fault!" She waved a hand. "I understand that you're the leader and everything, but none of us knew what was going to happen when we went to fight them. None of us knew that Syd, Maddie, Patrick, Bailey, Reihu, Aaron, Riles or I were all going to end up in a coma while the rest of us were scarred and critically hurt. We were going up against opponents we didn't know and were stuck with having to make some of the worst decisions we've ever had to make."

She placed her hands on her chest. "Do you think I _wanted _to kill that guy by freezing his blood? No, but in the end I didn't have a choice."

Bailey made a humming sound, resting her cheek in her palm. Cody glared over at her. "Do you have something to say or are you just going to keep making faces at me whenever this is brought up?"

"This should be interesting," Riley murmured, curling up in her chair.

The redhead teen glared back at Cody. "_I'm _not the one that killed so many people."

"I DIDN'T HAVE A CHOICE!" Cody shouted back at her, eyes flashing dangerously. He leapt to his feet and leaned over Bailey's chair, getting into her face. "And it makes me fucking _sick _each time I think about…every time I imagine it." He backed away, grabbing onto his long hair. "And it doesn't help that you broke up with me over it and won't let me forget what I did."

"Yeah, like it took you that long to get with someone else afterwards." Bailey's eyes narrowed. "But, hey, if throwing away your morals and everything you believed in, in humanity was all thrown out the window."

"Guys, don't fight about this," Rhuben chided them.

Zack held up a hand, stopping the darkness elemental. "No, this is something they need to talk about," he said. "They've been fighting about it so much…it's better to get it out in the open."

Cody shook his head as he turned away from Bailey. Everything he had said was true, the haunting images of those people that he had sacrificed was always going to be in his head, always going to follow him around. Every time he closed his eyes, had a moment to himself, in the moments before he would fall asleep it would come back to him.

He really had no choice.

"There's too many of them!" Noah called, swinging his hammer as hard as he could from the back of SilverTatsu. With a cry of effort he smashed an arbori in the face, sending it flying back where it came from. However, as he had taken the time to shoot back the one arbori, out twenty more came through.

Cody, who was on Phantom's back, let out a cry of effort as he continued to shoot streams of water towards the arboris that came through the portal. He watched as Patrick and Noah continue to try and fight off the arbori, but he could see there wasn't any way for them to seal up the portal or stop anyone from getting through. He looked around for Sydney, who was hovering closer towards the portal, knocking back more of the arbori in between his tries to cast a shield over the opening of the portal.

Chewing his lower lip, Cody looked back and forth from the portal to the arboris attacking the Earth. He had his orders but still…it was probably not going to help them if they weren't combining their efforts on Mother Nature. _I know the decision Zack would make. _Brushing his hair out of his face, Cody finally made his decision.

"Fall back!" He called. "There're too many coming through, we're not going to be able to stop them all!" He watched as Sydney hesitated for a moment then turned and used his staff to float back down towards the others. Patrick and Noah followed him until they were close enough to hear Cody. "We have to focus on Mother Nature. Once we get rid of her, then the rest of the arboris won't come through."

"You got it," Patrick agreed.

Cody nodded and directed Phantom back down to the ground. Once his feet reached the ground he held out his hand, running towards the arboris that filled the street in front of him. "Water of the Soul!" His Aqua Staff appeared in his hand and he swung it forward, sending a jet of hard water into the arboris, sending them back into the side of a building. He came to a stop, suddenly hearing the screams that came from inside.

Screeching to a halt, Cody turned back and looked inside the storefront window, noticing the patrons trapped inside. He stared at them, watching as they huddled together and once all eyes turned to him, he could see the pleading expression on their faces and see their mouths move in silent pleas for help.

"Master Cody, look out!"

Cody whirled towards the sound of Phantom's voice and his eyes widened as he watched an arboris head towards him, vines outstretched. Before he could move, the vines wrapped around his neck and squeezed hard. He could feel his skin get cut and could feel blood start to roll down his skin. Choking, Cody stumbled, bringing his free hand up to grab onto the vine. He pulled against it, wincing as his palm was cut open against the roughness of the vine.

He tried calling for help from Phantom, but saw his guardian furiously fighting against the arboris that were surrounding him. _What can I do? _He closed his eyes as soon as the question entered his head. He knew what he had to do; he knew it as soon as he had seen the arbori flying towards him. He didn't react in the way his body had wanted…only because he knew what would happen, the ramifications he would have to live with.

It had seemed like such an easy decision, but now…

_I'm sorry._

Cody knew hesitation was going to get himself killed. He lifted his staff and concentrated on the new power that came from the element stone. This caused a wave of water, larger than he had ever been able to produce before to shoot out of the staff and catch the arbori in the stomach. The vines tightened into Cody's throat amongst the pressure of the water that lifted the arbori off its feet. The force of the water caused Cody to fall into his back and as it continued to shoot out, taking the arbori up and arching it back.

All of a sudden Cody felt the vines slide off his neck and heard the sound of breaking glass, screams, and then silence. Coughing, Cody rolled onto his side, trying to catch his breath. Bringing his hand up, he felt around his neck, feeling a ring wet with blood. Thankfully due to his knowledge of science and anatomy, sighed in relief when he realized that he wasn't hurt too badly. Placing his hand back on the ground his palm landed in a puddle.

A red puddle.

Lifting himself up, Cody looked towards the storefront window, knowing what he was going to see before he saw it. He climbed to his feet and walked forward, looking inside taking in the gaze of the bodies that had just been full of life, now punctured with shards of glass, frozen in positions where they tried to shield themselves from glass.

The arbori had landed on top of the bodies and while it didn't bleed, Cody was sure it was dead as well.

"Cody?" The water elemental slowly turned around and gazed at Bailey, who looked back at him with wide, wet eyes. "What'd you do?"

_What'd you do?_

Apart from the images those were the words that had always haunted him from that moment in time. But in many ways, he felt better having finally managed to get it off his chest. He knew the others were confused about them breaking up and why they were so angry with each other, and now he didn't care anymore.

"I hope you never have to make a decision like that, Bailey," he said to her in a quiet voice. "And I hope that you don't continue to hold it over my head. But I made my decision and I'm going to stick by it."

"And we have to stick by each other," Zack jumped in. "We can't keep fighting with each other and keeping secrets. It'll just cause us to implode form the inside and we can't have that. Not when we're this close to ending the whole thing." He rubbed the back of his neck. "And I know there are a lot of things that we've each done that probably won't have us seen well in the eyes of those around us, but we can't turn our backs on each other."

Cody nodded at his brother.

Bailey let out a quiet sigh and nodded too.

Zack nodded back. "That's all I had to say, really." His friends all nodded. Tapeworm immediately got up from his seat and, taking Canis by the hand, left the room. This prompted the others to start getting up to leave as well, no one really speaking other to say 'excuse me' or 'sorry' if they got in one another's way.

Zack walked over to Riley, who had waited for Julius, who she had been sharing her chair with, to move out of the way. "I need to talk to you," he said to her.

Riley glanced at him for a moment before brushed her red strands of hair from her face. "I figured you would, mate." She got up from the seat and took Zack's outstretched hand, allowing him to lead her out of the large room. The two walked along, aimlessly, for a moment before Zack started to speak.

"I just wanted to say sorry for—"

Riley only had to hear a few of his words before she rolled her eyes and came to a stop. "Zack, seriously, stop apologizing about Koto." She lowered her chin, letting out a sharp sigh before lifting her head, flicking her hair from her face. "That wasn't your fault. He probably would've done the same thing for anyone else." She raised an eyebrow. "Though, knowing him, he wouldn't ever admit it to anyone else other than the rest of the BlackWolves and even then I don't know if he'd still be in contact with them after the whole thing."

Zack made a humming sound, pressing his lips together. "Then other than that, I don't know what to do, Riles. Because you either aren't talking to me about him and completely avoid the conversation, or just get mad at me whenever I do bring it up."

The teen girl's eyes narrowed for a moment. "OK." She licked her lips, pausing for a second. "Since you're clearly not going to drop the conversation…do you _really _want to know why, for a long time, I denied the fact that I had feelings for you?" Zack nodded. "Not only because I didn't want you to get hurt, yeah, but because I'm tired of people I care about being taken away from me. First my Mum and Dad because of Uriel—"

Zack grimaced. "You know about that?"

"Yes, boofhead, we all know about it. But that's not my point, not yet anyway. My point is that Mum and Dad are gone, Aunt Kristen is gone, I've had to leave my friends back in Aus because of Robert and because of what I am now, and I've always been aware that there's a great chance of everyone around me dying, which is also why I was hesitant to have you and Cody awaken in general though I really had no choice on that."

Zack nodded.

Riley scratched her forehead, hiding her face. "In the grand scheme of things, as selfish as this sounds, I don't want anyone else to have to die because of this. I'm tired of funerals and mourning and just being pissed about it. So the idea of you being hurt, I can deal with that. The idea of any more of my family or friends or…"—Riley took a deep breath—"you dying isn't something I can easily wrap my head around, especially because I was the one that brought you into this. So, I'm sorry for not wanting to talk about Koto's and Max's death and what happened with that, but I don't even want to think about it anymore."

Zack gave her a funny smile. "If your punches and slaps haven't killed me yet, I don't think anything else will." He squeezed her hand before bringing his up and cupping her face. "I can't promise that I'm not going to die from the things we're doing and neither can you. But I want you to know that I'm going to do everything in my power to come back to you."

"Well that wasn't romantically cheesy." Riley smirked for a moment before a serious expression slid onto her face. "Speaking of…I'm apologizing in advance as there's going to be a point where you give me an order in battle and I probably won't follow it."

"What if I try to stop you?"

She paused for a long moment and Zack wasn't sure if she was going to answer him. "I'd hope you wouldn't."

He nodded and gently ran his fingers through her hair; suddenly remember the time he had first awakened as an Elemental. He had seen it as a means to get away from his boring, normal life and have an adventure. But then everything being an Elemental had shown him proved it was more than a game, more than a fantasy or a dream where they could wake up and go back to the life they had before. It was like Bailey had said, all of their morals and things they had said they would never do or wouldn't dream of doing were thrown out the window as soon as being put in a life or death situation came around.

When it came to Uriel…knowing the sort of destruction he had done too many people's lives, he could understand if there was a time they would face him and she wouldn't be able to hold back her emotions over it. If Uriel had done something to one of his parents, he wouldn't be stopped if he ever had the chance of getting some sort of revenge.

At the moment he still wasn't sure what he'd do if Uriel came back around. If they would go into a straight attack and kill him, or find some way to banish him back to the Element World and imprison him in some way.

"In case I don't get the chance to say it later…" Riley's voice brought Zack out of his thoughts. He looked down at her as she brought her hands up and grabbed onto his. Gently, she laced her fingers between his, pressing her palms against his. "I love you."

Zack smiled. "I love you, too." He leaned in and gave her a kiss before hugging her.

He was surprised to find her shaking as she hugged him back.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter was long coming and the only reason I had waited so long to do it was because I couldn't decide how I wanted it to be told; it being the entire chapter, it being told in flashback chapters like the ones for Christian, Kristen, Reed, Renee, and Core, or what I decided to do with it. So things jump around a bit for some of the things that happened throughout the battle in this chapter and it will end in the next one.

Repeat, you will see the rest of the battle with Mother Nature in the next chapter.

Also, I know I've kept the guardians at the background for a while, but starting with the next chapter they come in more. As well as having the adventure aspect be the forefront of the story as I revealed some things; especially of the battle with Mother Nature, some of the other genres of the story (friendship, family, and romance) are going to come in more.

Thanks for being so patient on the wait for this chapter.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	26. A Look Into The Past VI

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

* * *

Tapeworm jumped backwards out of the way as a hoard of arbori headed towards him, vines out stretching to him. "Ursa!" His guardian appeared in front of him with a mighty roar and started to bat away those that came close to him. Others that had managed to get around the guardian charged straight towards him, Riley, Zack, and Crystal and they all immediately leapt into battle.

Tapeworm created a long bamboo tick with his powers; hands glowing a bright green, and spun the long ranged weapon around, catching the arboris that came close to him in the face, chest and arms. Placing the end of his staff on the ground, he pulled himself up and jumped over a row of arbori and swept the staff back, striking them in a row. He let out a cry of pain as he was suddenly struck in the back and fell over onto the ground.

"Glaciate!" Crystal shot her hands out and watched as the arbori that came towards her slowly stopped moving before becoming frozen to the ground. She charged forward, bringing back her hand so that a large icicle appeared in her hand. Throwing it forward, the icicle shot forward and embedded itself into an arbori's chest. She twisted to the side, utilizing the tiger genes that were in her body, and she swung her foot out, smacking another arbori that came towards her. Dricer roared loudly and charged on top of the arboris that came from her right side and she used the opportunity to bring her hands up above her head and create a hailstorm that rained down onto arboris in front of her.

All of a sudden a vine with rope like thickness shot out and wrapped itself around her neck. She brought her hands up to her neck and frantically tried to pull it away, but found herself being dragged towards a large arbori that grinned as he watched her, before its head slowly morphed into that of a Venus fly trap.

"Mistress Crystal!" Dricer called, turning back towards her. The white tiger guardian started to run back towards her, but roared once more, this time in pain, as he was lashed across the back with vines. He crashed hard to his stomach; the pain that had ripped through his body caused Crystal to let out cries of pain as well.

The back of her shirt ripped open in the pattern of the vines that ripped through Dricer, and blood dripped down from the cuts. Zack, Riley, and Tapeworm continued to battle around her as she tried to dig her heels into the ground, keeping herself from being eaten. She continued to struggle until she got close enough to the arbori and tightened her grip on the vine around her neck. Ice crackled up the length of the vine and into the Venus fly trap's head and body. When she was sure she had done enough to keep the arbori from coming back, she snapped her hand down and broke the vine that was around her neck, instantly rendering it to glittering pieces of ice.

She then did a high-jump kick, sending her foot through the chest of the arbori, immediately causing it to fall apart in pieces.

Riley flipped backwards on top of a car as the arbori attacked her, sending razor sharp leaves and vines her way. Once on top of the car she punched down onto the roof of the car with a blazing fist. It immediately melted in her hand and when the hole was big enough, she slid inside and slid into the front seat as the arbori launched themselves onto the roof and sides of the car, trying to get to her. She leaned over towards the foot well and jammed her burning fist up into the area underneath the steering before turning and watching as the arbori started to snap their vines against the cars.

One was at the driver's side door and was doing its best to try and break in. Riley smirked as she watched the arbori suddenly slow and glare at her, green eyes glowing with menace. She clenched her hand into a fist and increased the fire that was around her hand, immediately erupting it. The fire encased the dashboard and broke out the front windshield before it engulfed the front of the car as well. A second later, the car burst into flames before the roof and sides were shot sky-high as the car blew up under the intense flames, sending the arbori away from her.

Unscathed and able to withstand the fire she created around her, Riley slid out from the driver's seat and landed on her feet, bending backward an uninjured flew towards her. She grabbed onto its head with her hands and set it aflame before shoving her fist through the middle of its chest and flinging it onto the ground behind her. As she looked around she was suddenly hit on the face, sending her flying back to the ground.

"Flamethrower!" Zack cupped his hands together and shot a stream of fire towards the arbori that headed his way. He surged forwards and with a running leap, kicked an arbori in the face. He ducked out of the way as a fist came flying towards his face and he lashed back with a judo sweep, knocking one onto its back. Hands blazing, Zack continued to fight the arbori that came his way, ignoring the pain that swept through his body from his arm as the seconds passed.

He was knocked across the face and fell to his knees. Feeling whips lash across his face and back, Zack winced through the pain before holding his hands up and shooting out a shield of fire that knocked the arbori away from him. They twisted and writhed as fire consumed their bodies. Zack got to his feet, looking up towards the sky. He didn't see Cody, Patrick, Noah, or Sydney up there anymore and more and more arbori were starting to come through.

_We can't keep fighting like this, _he realized. _We have to go straight for Mother Nature._

Getting to his feet, Zack smeared blood off his face and called out to his friends as they continued to struggle against the waves of arbori that continued to come one after another. The portal wasn't closing, there had to be a better way to defeat them. "C'mon!" He called.

His friends turned towards him, momentarily pausing their battle.

"This is only going to end once we get to Mother Nature," Zack called. He ducked as there was a sudden large explosion form a few block away. "And we have to go _now!"_

His friends nodded. Riley summoned DalFang and leapt onto his back. She directed him over to Zack and the fire elemental quickly climbed on behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding on tightly as DalFang beat his wing and quickly took off up into the air.

Crystal and Tapeworm climbed onto the back of Dricer and the white tiger leapt onto a nearby car before leaping over a large wave of arbori and charging off in the direction of Mother Nature with DalFang following close behind.

* * *

"Cody? What'd you do?"

Cody looked at Bailey for a long moment before shaking his head. "What I had to do," he said. He swung his arms in a circle and created a wave of water that hot towards the arboris in front of him. Patrick rolled to Cody's side and shot out his hands, sending out a bolt of lightning to the water. The wave that had combined with electricity shot into the arbori, electrocuting them as it sent them flying backwards. "Nice shot," Cody said to him.

"Thanks mate," Patrick whipped his head to the side and pointed at the ground as an arbori leapt to attack. A brilliant bolt of lightning shot from the sky and landed on top of the arbori frying it instantly. Patrick closed his eyes against the bright bolt and watched tilting his head to the side, as the force of the hit caused the arbori to go flying into eth air, where Noah met it with a swipe of his hammer. "I've had a lot of practice."

Bailey stood still, watching the battle that raged along around her. She…she didn't really know what to do. Geneva and Gattaca's instructions had been to get them to Mother Nature, so that they could talk her out of what she had been doing, to remind her what the point of their revelation to the Elementals has been. But now…watching as so many lives were lost around her, most of them innocent and just trying to get away…she didn't think she could handle it. How could anyone sacrifice people like that? Weren't they supposed to be the good guys, the ones that were to protect everyone the best they could?

_Bailey, _Geneva's voice came through her thoughts. _It's too dangerous to stay here. We have to get going._

Bailey didn't respond as she continued to watch the boys fight around her. Sydney, having the powers of all elements due to his spirits, shot different attacks to the arbori with his staff. There was a loud scream and Bailey turned, watching as a mother and daughter had stumbled out of a nearby building and ran out into the street, immediately surrounded by arboris. Sydney turned and shot a gust of wind to the two women before surrounding them with a spirit shield.

_Bailey! _Gattaca shouted, his voice breaking out f her thoughts. _You have to move! _Bailey suddenly lost control of her body and she gasped, watching as a wave of black energy followed by white energy shot out of her body and into the area surrounding her. The arboris that had been there immediately disappeared and all was silent. Suddenly stumbling, Bailey got her body back.

"Bailey!" Noah hurried over to her, his dragon wings sliding back into his shoulder blades. "Are you all right?" He grabbed onto her shoulder, shaking her out of her trance. "Listen." He swallowed hard. "I know all of this is hard, I know that…what you saw is hard for you to wrap you mind around. But this is the life we're stuck with and we need your help."

Cody, Patrick, and Sydney hurried over to the girl and with the four boys surrounding her, Bailey started to shake. She brought her hands up, looking at them. It wasn't her, she knew that. She hadn't been the one that had dealt with these powers and enemies as long as they had; she wasn't the one that had just attacked those things. In her head she knew they weren't human and yet…they appeared human and it still had the same effect on her.

"Bailey…" Cody reached out to touch her shoulder and she pushed his hand away.

"Don't touch me," she murmured. "Please, don't touch me."

"Everything's going to be OK, Bailey," Sydney said. He hesitantly reached out and patted her hand. "But right now…you have to focus or else Boston and the rest of the world will fall to Mother Nature and the Element world and we can't have that. OK?" Bailey looked down at the boy and slowly nodded.

_He's telling the truth child, _Geneva said, her voice soothing, calm. _This is what you're going to have to see when you're in this life._

"I didn't ask for it," Bailey whispered.

_No one asks to be awakened. But when they are, or they see someone that is an Elemental, there are different reactions that will be brought from it. You're not an Elemental, you have no powers, but you are needed in the grand scheme of things. There is something special about you, Bailey; you just have to wait for it to be revealed to you._

Patrick moved forward and scooped Bailey up in his arms. "C'mon, we have to get to the others," he said. He looked over at Cody, who nodded and he sprouted his eagle wings out of his back. Patrick and Noah followed suit with their dragon wings, and Sydney jumped onto his staff and the four headed off towards the large blasts of energy.

As they headed towards the blasts, they couldn't help but notice the continuous stream of arboris that came through the portal.

* * *

Diamond ducked behind a car before reaching out and holding his machine gun forward, shooting off as many rounds as he could. The element gun had run out quickly and while it had worked well, there weren't enough bullets that would hold out the arbori long enough. As shells flew over his shoulder from the bullets that went flying toward the arbori, sweat dripped down Diamond's face. He had called in for military relief before, but so far none had shown up.

As far as he was concerned, the factions had been wiped out before the group had arrived to attack Mother Nature. They were all alone.

Diamond leaned to the side, shielding his face as there was a stream of fire that shot by. He looked to the side and watched as Julius was swept off his feet and landed on the ground beside him. The elemental quickly got back to his feet and sent out a wave of water followed by a gust of wind that knocked arboris away from him.

"Must be nice to be able to control every element," Diamond remarked.

Julius smirked, wiping sweat and blood off his forehead. His chest heaved up and down with effort as he struggled to catch his breath. Placing his hand on his chest, he took the time to heal the gashes that resided there, before his hands glowed a navy blue and the ground started to quake. When the shaking stopped, he fell forward, placing his hands on the ground in front of him. "You'd think," he gasped. "But…having all of the powers….it makes me weaker…I can't focus on them one at a time, I have to constantly switch through them. Even if with the aid of the Element Stones…I can't…." He shook his head.

"That sucks." Diamond stood up and fired off more rounds. "Seems to me it's something that we could really use."

"It's the power that Zack and Cody now have that we could use," Julius contradicted. He looked over his shoulder, where Maddie still tried to heal Blazen. But the guardian continued to lie motionless, the wounds too deep for her to heal as it had been revealed that the vines had been planted inside his body and binding him. "If what they say about the Element World is true."

"Of everything I've seen at this point, I believe it to be true," Diamond remarked. "But what we need to figure out…how are we going to get rid of this Mother Nature fellow. If she's as strong as they say, which I also believe, there has to be something that can stop her."

"There is."

Diamond and Julius turned to the side and watched as Aaron calmly walked over to them, holding onto the element stone of light. A white aura surrounded him and as the arboris came close, the light protected him, knocking him back out of the way.

"What?" Maddie gasped, watching Aaron. "But…he…he's not an Elemental…how is this possible?"

Aaron ignored her question. He turned towards her and held out his hand. A thin beam of light came out from his fingers and shone around Blazen. When the light faded the wounds were gone and Blazen quickly fluttered his wings and got back to his talons.

"Thanks Aaron," he said to the young boy. "I have to go find Zack." He flapped his wings and took off into the air.

Aaron nodded and took Maddie's hand, taking him over to Julius and Diamond. "There is only one way to stop her," he said, voice sounding like he was in a trance. "However, I don't believe they're going to find out what it is. It's something that only those in her position would understand. It is the world she's worried about, her own world and the way her powers have invested themselves upon Earth…according to folklore. They may not figure it out in time." The element stone of light slowly lost its glow. "I hope they can do it."

* * *

Rhuben skidded across the ground, rolling before she got back to her feet. She turned back to Mother Nature, watching s Reihu, in his lion form, attacked the woman from her backside, and charged towards her once more. Mother Nature shot out a flurry of vines. Rhuben's eyes and hands glowed a dark purple as she used her darkness powers to knock the vines out of the way. But with each blast that knocked a vine safely aside, she gritted her teeth in pain, doing her best to keep the darkness from taking over. Each use of her powers made it that much harder to ignore the icy grip that slowly moved up her spine and towards her brain.

A vine flopped own in front of her, crushing the ground beneath her and Rhuben leapt high into the air. "Dark Darts!" Cupping her hands together, a large ball of darkness appeared in front of her before. Little bolts of darkness energy shot out of the large ball and struck Mother Nature. She then brought her hands to her head and grasped onto the sides of them as she fell towards the ground. _No! Not, not again! Fight it, you can fight it off!_

The woman that control everything nature and wildlife whipped around and quick as lightning shot her arm out. Needle like bamboo shot towards Rhuben, catching her on the shoulder and knocking her back towards the ground. Landing hard on her knees, she lifted up her hand. "Darkness Atom Bomb!" A large ball of darkness appeared overhead and as she lowered her hand, it shot down towards Mother Nature.

The woman shifted her head to the side and watched as the darkness bomb fell toward her. Lifting her free hand she sent a larger bamboo spear through the center of the attack, followed by a shockwave around her. There was a loud yelping sound and Rhuben watched as Reihu was knocked aside, crashing into a building side. "Reihu!"

The shockwave then reached Rhuben. She crossed her arms over her face to shield herself and skidded back a few inches before she felt herself lifted off her feet. Crashing to the ground she felt her head hit before the rest of her body. Curling into a ball she felt the darkness starting to take her over in her weak moment. Pressure pushed down around her on all sides as she curled up into the fetal position, animalistic screams coming from her mouth.

"Inferno Ebony Blast!"

"Crystal Freeze!"

"Thunder Bolt!"

"Wind Strike!"

"Spirit Crash!"

"Psychic Beam!"

"Quaking Tundra!"

"Riptide Rush!"

"SpitFire!"

The ten attacks combined and crashed into Mother Nature, causing the shockwave to stop. Rhuben looked up as Julius leapt to his little sister's side and grabbed onto her, jumping her back towards their friends as Mother Nature screeched from the combined force of the attacks.

She grabbed onto Reihu's body and threw him over towards the group of Elementals. Her eyes shone with white light as she towered in front of the group. "You dare think you'll stop me?" She held her arms out, motioning towards the sounds of destruction and screams that surrounded them. "You human have done nothing but caused my world as well as your nothing but trouble. I'm not going to allow you to tear it apart anymore."

"We'll die before we allow that to happen," Zack declared.

"We'd rather sacrifice ourselves before we allow you to hurt anyone else," Cody agreed. He took in a deep breath. "We can save this planet…and keep the likes of you from hurting anyone else." He looked over at Zack and he nodded back before they held onto the Element stones.

_They will not be able to use those until they fully open themselves up to the power, _Mother Nature thought. She motioned to an arbori and it shot out and knocked the Element stones from Zack's and Cody's hands and before they could react, they were covered by moss and vines. _To protect them._

Mother Nature's eyes then narrowed dangerously. "Then prepare to die a painfully horrible death." She lifted her hands and they glowed green. The ground started to quake and crack open, revealing vines and trees coming lifting itself from the ground. The mass attack shot towards the group.

Tapeworm brought up his hands and knocked a few out of the way as the others jumped apart and started to fend for themselves. Blasts of energy and elements went flying as the group of Elementals fought back against Mother Nature, easily being overwhelmed by the fighting power she shot back. "Prepare to die!" She lifted her arms high in the air and started to gather all of her power, a large ball of swirling energy appearing overhead.

Riley reacted quickly and thrust out her right arm. "Darkness Dragon Flame!"

"No!" Cody screamed at her.

Her arm became engulfed in an orange flame with black edges and as the fire stretched from her shoulder down to her arm, it turned to a solid black color. Pulling her arm back she thrust it forward and the fire/energy shot off her arm, straight towards Mother Nature, creating a large dragon made of fire that towards her. The attack shot straight into Mother Nature but was stopped by an invisible barrier. Mother Nature smirked as the attack dissipated.

Growling, Riley fell to her knee, holding onto her arm. Her eyes rolled up and she pitched to the side, falling lifelessly to the ground.

"Luminescence!" Patrick, Noah, and Sydney quickly called. Thunder, wind and spiritual powers formed a big sphere of light, surrounded by ferocious winds, which shot white thunders at all directions. The thunders crashed into Mother Nature's barrier and were re-directed up into the orb of energy above Mother Nature.

The woman's smirk widened and she slowly started to lower her hands, directing it towards the Elementals. Zack glanced over at Sydney who watched the woman with fear in his eyes, genuine fear. It was the first time he had seen the young boy appear that way.

"Syd," he directed. "Make a shield."

Sydney slowly shook his head. His chin trembled. "I…I don't think I can make one that big."

_Too late. _Mother Nature lowered the energy ball and shot it towards the group. Just when it was about to reach them, Geneva and Gattaca appeared in front of the group. The two muttered and incantation that Mother Nature immediately recognized and two large, magic circles appeared in front of them, blocking off the attack. Mother Nature's attack collided with the magic circles and three beams of light appears hers in green, Gattaca's in black, and Geneva's in white.

The three forces collided and created an even bigger, more brilliant beam of light that engulfed them, reminiscent of a light created from a nuclear weapon.

All sound stopped.

Everything was still.

The absence of sound was, surprisingly, louder than anything that the Elementals had ever heard before.

Mother Nature watched, tilting her head in slight confusion as she watched the Elementals slowly try to get up from the ground, clearly struggling as they continued to collapse after a few seconds of movement. They were stronger than she had thought they'd be. They had more heart, wanting to protect everyone around them. _Is it possible that those that have been destroying the planet for years…hurting my ties with this planet…do they really want to save it as much as they said they did? Are they the ones that will really be able to save both worlds?_

Slowly lowering her arms, Mother Nature continued to watch the group. The blonde girl…she was doing her best to try to heal the others but she knew it wouldn't help them much. That blonde wasn't an elemental, Mother Nature knew for sure, neither was the one that ruled Geneva and Gattaca nor was the little boy that couldn't see. Neither of the three were elementals and yet they were doing all they could to help everyone around them.

They were all doing their best to keep their city from being destroyed, no matter what else would happen.

_These are the ones that'll be able to do it…it is not fair if I destroyed their world…_Mother Nature uttered an incantation and the arbori that continued to come through the portal as well as those that were already on the ground all screeched before rotting and melting away.

Mother Nature lowered her hands and slowly walked over to the fallen fighters. By a quick glance she noticed some of them were still moving while others appeared to have used up the extent of their powers. Or that her powers had caused them to overexert themselves…either way as she knew it to be, they weren't going to defeat her.

"I apologize for my actions," she said to them. Zack and Cody watched her, blood running down their face, eyes just barely open. It was all she could do to keep herself up. "I see now that you mean no harm to me or my World. I shall do my best to restore it to the way it was…and close up the portal between both worlds."

She slowly leaned forward in a bow before disappearing in a flash of bright green light. Watching as the light zoomed towards the sky, Zack and Cody watched as the portal closed behind her. It was the fallout afterwards that had caused there to be so many problems between their group. Those that had fallen into comas had, unfortunately, woken up with their memories still intact. All of their horrors were still with them despite having physically left them all behind. Bailey and Cody hadn't spoken to each other since she had seen the great lengths he had gone to to protect himself and everyone felt that they needed time apart from each other, to get over the what had happened before and while they had been gone they hadn't spoken to each other over the course of their vacation other than those they were with.

There were phone calls and emails here and there; otherwise it was radio silence of the group before having returned where they were actually happy to see each other once more.

And now they were working on trying to ultimately end it all and who knew what was on the horizon for them.

* * *

Sydney looked over his shoulder before ushering Aaron into the quiet room. Now that they had finally had their meeting and spoken about everything that had been bothering them, he now had the chance to make sure thing would continue to get better for them.

As the door closed behind them, Sydney looked around the grand room in awe. It appeared to be some sort of a battling room, as there were weapons lining the walls the light streaming in from the stained glass windows shone off of the swords and other artillery like weapons. And as the door closed behind them, Aaron hurried to the other side of the room to be sure no one would come in and surprise them in the middle of their work.

"Is it all cleared?" Sydney asked, moving to the center of the room.

"Yeah," Aaron called back. "Everything's fine." He nodded over to Sydney. "Go ahead."

Sydney nodded back, pressing his lips together in an interesting smile, one dimple appearing in his cheek. "Unfading Promise!" Holding out his hand, his staff appeared in his grasp. Tightening both hands around it, he closed his eyes, and focused hard on the power within him. And as he continued to focus, the bright blue gem at the tip of his staff glowed a bright light erupted from the ground beneath him.

Sydney opened his eyes and watched as a magic circle drew underneath his feet, continuing to radiate light as it grew around him. When the last lines came together, a white figure started to slide out from the floor beneath him. Sydney's smile widened as he watched the figure continue to come out from the floor. The figure continued to come up from the floor before it had come to its full height, and then the light faded.

The man that stood in front of him looked down at Sydney, his dark blue eyes shining.

Sydney lowered his staff and the light in the room completely faded.

He took a deep breath before letting it out.

"Hi, Dad."


	27. Desperate times, desperate measures

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

* * *

Christian looked over his shoulders, scanning the area around him as completely as he could, before ducking into the structure that resided in front of him. He waited until it was carefully and completely sealed behind him before walking down the darkened path.

One he entered the large room at the end of the hall; his eyes immediately looked over the computers and chemistry equipment that was set up around the room. The computers were some of the more high-tech than he had ever used, though he had quickly understood how to use it. He had no choice, otherwise. If there was going to be anything that he had to learn quickly, it was the computers that had been created by the government.

Core looked up as Christian walked into the room and nodded towards him before typing on the keyboard, fingers moving at warp speed. "Any sign of them?"

"Not yet," Christian replied, with a light shake of his head. He dropped into the seat next to Core and booted up his own computer. "Though if my assumption is correct, they should be back at any time." He cleared his throat. "We need to move quickly though, more and more cities of Massachusetts are being taken over by the day. And as far as I've seen from my contacts still in Boston…other states are being invaded as well. If things don't get resolved soon…we're going to have more on our hands than the fact that the kids are now in the Element World."

Core snorted. "It's kind of ironic what's going on now," he remarked. "Considering it was what I wanted not too long ago…"

Christian let out a sigh. He wouldn't agree with that in the slightest. What Core wanted was a chance to learn more about Elementals; how they worked, what made them become real things on Earth, what made some awaken and others not? What was it about certain people that gave them the ability to become an elemental? Something in the DNA? Was there some sort of scientific happening over the years that hadn't ever been released to the public? That was something that he had been looking for when they had first stumbled across Elementals.

And it had stuck with him as the years had gone by. Since their first encounter with Uriel, not knowing it was him at the time, and had grown since his friends' murder. Ever since then his life had been nothing but a vendetta to figure out who or what it was that had killed his friends and how to stop it from happening again. Then it had overtaken his life to the point where it was an obsession and he had created Wingz Corp as a way to receive government funding to continue with the search for what had started it all. He had been o against them that he, in a way, wanted to keep them apart from humans until finding out about the children of his friends and how they were the ones that had awakened to the powers. He had found they were in danger and wanted to find them for himself, to protect them, but had to admit he had gone about it in the worst ways.

"Then again if they had known that I wasn't such a bad person—"

"If _I _had known, I would've told them to start trusting you a long time ago," Christian interrupted. There was a tone to his voice that proved he was tired of the conversation. He had grown tired of it ages ago, and hoped that by that time Core wouldn't known that nothing had been his fault and that they were all blindsided when that one fateful year in college. "But we can't worry about that now; right now we have to focus on the fact that all over the United States humans and Elementals alike are being held in captivity."

His computer loaded up and he moved through many file folders and programs that were loaded on the computer in a matter of seconds. Until he was sure that he had buried his location under enough running systems, in case someone was to bug his computer, he looked through his e-mail. This email was untraceable and didn't have an open IP address attached to it, anything that would keep his and Core's location from being revealed.

It was in those file folders that he found the images he had been receiving from his contacts in Boston. Pictures of humans being chained together and brought to holding areas, pictures of Elementals being tortured and killed, pictures of Uriel that would put even the greatest rulers to shame. This guy, someone that had come over from the Element world to the human world, was doing so much more than he thought was possible.

Having the power of life and death…it'd be the hardest for any of the kids to defeat, he knew that.

The two worked in silence for a few minutes more until Core let out a low sigh that grasped Christian's attention. At the curious glance from the blue-eyed man, Core turned the computer screen so that Christian could see. His lower jaw dropped open. The picture that rested on the desktop of the computer was that of his friends; Carey and Kurt. He couldn't be sure where they were, not able to get a good grasp on their location as the picture was so blurred, but he could see that they had been hurt.

There were bags under their eyes, hair unkempt, clothes tattered and dirty. Their faces were gaunt; appearing as if they hadn't had eaten in a long time. But it had been a while since Uriel had taken over, who knew how much longer his reign of terror was going to continue until the kids got back. Who knew if it were possible for them to get back at all?

"We have to do something," Core said. "I don't know what, but something. We can't wait for them to comeback."

"We still have some of the initial research we had been started before Reed's passing," Christian pointed out. "The cannon and project A.T.O.M." He slowly nodded, lacing his fingers together. That had been a project started by the three shortly after they had gone their separate ways after college. Despite only being able to meet up a few times a year, they still made progress each time they were together. But after Reed, Renee, and Kristen they had never gone back to it.

It was something that was bound to have the awareness of Elementals increase as well as make it so that they could live out in the open rather than having to constantly hide. Despite the massive battle with Mother Nature that had been caught on camera, that was still being shown around the world and criticized—despite Zack and Cody being nation figures of peace, which he thought was also ironic—the project was bound to do increase the relations between the two.

"Do you think it'll work?" Core asked him. "It was only an idea we had, we don't know if it's going to be something that'll hurt or help."

There was a sudden low rumbling sound and the two scientists looked around as the room started to rock. Images on the computer screen flickered and became distorted as the rumbling continued. The computers rocked on the table tops, the ground shook under their feet, and small streams of dirt and dust trickled down from the ceiling as there was another rumbling sound, this one louder but lasting a shorter amount of time.

"Bombs," Core noted. "They're bombing the city."

Christian suddenly appeared panicked. _They already got here to Canada? _Then he had a second, more horrifying thought. _They're looking for us. _Since Core had explained to Reihu that there was to be a war between the human world and the Element world if things didn't get remedied soon, the two had immediately left the United States to go into hiding. His laboratory had been left the way he hoped it would be, especially the secret room in the basement that had been put in place for his Elemental world while his chemistry work was his preferential career.

"Pull up the blueprint for Project A.T.O.M. I never thought we'd have to finish it, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

And nothing was more desperate than knowing that those that protected the city had been gone for weeks and still gave no sign of return.

* * *

**A/N: **Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	28. It doesn't work that way

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

* * *

London let out a yelp of pain as her hair was tugged, lifting her to her feet. She twisted behind her to see that an army man had grabbed onto her hair, second before she tripped over her feet, being forced towards the door of the barracks.

"Wait a minute!" Mr. Moseby got to his feet, hands outstretched in protest. "Where are you taking her?"

"Don't worry, she won't be hurt," the army man said. He pulled London to his chest and put his arm around her neck, periodically pressing a bit harder so that she would get the message not to try to escape. "We just have some questions we need to ask her and then we'll come back and ask you. You're not going to die. Not yet."

London tried to protest, but her cry was cut off into a choking couch as the man pressed his arm across her throat once more. She looked over at Kurt, Carey, Esteban, and Mr. Moseby as they all kneeled on the ground, looking up at her in despair. "Don't worry about me," she managed to choke out. "I'll be fine." Roughly twisted around, London was dragged out of the barracks and across the compound, feet dragging behind her. She was pulled into a nearby building and forced down into a chair, hands tied behind her back. "Alright, I'm here. What do you want?"

The army man walked around in front of her, face hidden in the shadows of the dim lighting. She couldn't see that his eyes were nearly completely black, the obvious sign of having been taken over by Uriel, part of his soul being stuck inside him. A puppet of sorts as the real Uriel sat in a protective hideout not too far away.

"What do you know about the Elementals?" The man demanded.

"The what?" London replied. She shook her hair out of her face. "I…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Of course you do, the Elementals. The people that can control different elements and have their guardians with them at all times." The man leaned towards her. "Surely you know who I'm talking about. You're with them all the time."

"My name's not Shirley," London said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm London, London Tipton. You know, even if you're going to destroy the world, I'd think that you would know who me and my father are. I mean, we _are _the richest people in the world."

The man reached out and struck her across the face, striking her so hard that she and the chair she was sitting on fell over. London yelled as the pain flamed across her cheek accompanied with her weakened body hitting the ground. Tears fell from her eyes as she was straightened and the man got into her face, eyes boring into hers. She shrank back. His eyes were soulless, the pupils having grown so big it was like there was no other color in his eyes. And as she continued to look at him, the pupils got bigger and bigger so that it took over the whites of his eyes.

"The Elementals," the man repeated. "The Fire and Water bearers. I know you know who they are. They're always around you! I need to know their whereabouts right now!" He paused and as London continued to look at him in confusion, he rolled his eyes. "They go by Zack and Cody…"

London lowered her head, realizing she was trapped in that moment. They knew she had been lying, that she didn't know anything about the Elementals. Carey and Kurt had filled them in on everything they knew about their sons and the powers they had and what they had done to save the world over and over again.

"I…for a long time I didn't know what they could do. I mean…I always thought they were weird, but I never knew it was this bad. I didn't know what was going on when they were around, the things they managed to do and I still don't know a lot." London lifted her head. "I don't know where they are."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not," London insisted. "In fact, I didn't know what it was that had happened, what they had always been doing, but the last thing I knew was they were constantly running around, doing _something_ but I never knew where they were going or what they were doing. They never told me, I just found out."

The man continued to look over London, as if reading her inside and out. Then, finally, he backed away from London, crossing his arms. He pulled a rifle from behind his back and leveled it at her. "What makes you think I should believe anything you're saying?"

London started to tremble, keeping her eyes on the gun that was pointed towards her. "Because you have no reason to keep me around," she said, stuttering over her words. "You won't care whether or not I live. If there was something I was hiding, you'd want to know what it was without needing to take me like this. You need me and the others for…bait for them. That's the only reason you're keeping me, not to believe what I'm saying."

The man held the rifle up even higher before turning it away from her. He placed it back on the holster that was strapped around him and walked over to London. He smacked her across the face once more and she fell limp, succumbing to the abuse against her. The man walked behind her and untied her arms from the chair and looked up towards another man covered in military gear entered the hut.

"Take her," the first man instructed to the second. "And bring the rest to me. If I don't get any information from them, I'll have to start _forcing _it out."

The second man nodded and dragged London out of the hut, arms and legs hanging lifelessly as she went.

* * *

"I need you to deliver a message," Sydney said to Reed. He looked over at Aaron who moved closer to the ghost of his adoptive uncle. "To Uncle Christian. I'm sure he knows by now, but we're in the Element World and have found out a lot about Uriel and what he plans to do. I'm not sure how much time we have left before he does a lot more damage to Earth. We've already seen what he can do with his powers of life and death; but we need the time here to learn more about the background of the Element World and Elementals in general so we can find a way to beat him."

Reed nodded. "I can give him the message but I can't guarantee that he'll listen to it, yeah?" he said. "Nor can I guarantee that he'll be able to understand what it is I'm trying to tell him. You of all people now how bloody difficult it is to transmit ourselves into dreams."

"I know," Sydney agreed. "It took me a while before I was able to clearly get you, Mom, and Aunt Kristen through." He looked down at his feet, where the magic circle continued to glow under his feet. "Unfortunately it seemed that Uriel had the same idea, because he had tormented Zack when he was young, which proves that this has been going on longer than we thought."

Reed glanced sadly down at his youngest son before shaking his head. "A lot longer than you think, Blue. He was the one that your Mum, aunt, uncle, Core, and I had come across when we first heard about elementals. In many ways, none of this would've happened if we hadn't had decided to try and figure out what was being hidden from us."

"Guilt isn't the best emotion to be led by Dad," Sydney commented flatly. "That's what you used to say, yeah?"

"Yeah. You and your brothers and sister and your cousins have greatly improved with your powers, so much o hat you're not using the full potential when you get the chance, just so that Zack and Cody can tap into the their full potential and realize how powerful they really are. They already are the strongest Elementals without the use of the Element stones, the prophecy says that. But now that they have the stone sin their possession, they're even stronger than ever. Make sure they realize their potential and with Bailey's help, things'll be restored in both worlds."

Aaron then stepped forward and placed a hand on Sydney's shoulder. "Wouldn't that mean that we'd all lose our powers?" He questioned. "If everything is restored?"

"That's a risk that needs to be taken," Reed said. "That's always a chance that's going to be taken as death is inevitable in what you all are doing. That's what the rest of us risked when we found out about Uriel in the first place and he succeeded for the most part." He clenched his hand into a shaking fist and it was then that Sydney realized his father was angry. Not just angry because of the sudden death he had endured, leaving his children behind, but because there hadn't been enough time for him to adequately save the world before things had gotten so out of control.

_He's definitely related to us, _Sydney thought with a smirk, watching as his father did his best to calm himself down. "But I don't know what to do. Then again, none of us ever really know what's going on or what happens until it's too late."

Reed smiled and reached out, placing a hand on his youngest son's head. Sydney smiled up at his father, allowing his hair to be ruffled. "But I know you guys can do it. Don't give up. You can contact me whenever you need to, it _does _help with the practice of your powers."

Sydney nodded and reached up, grabbing onto his father's hand. Despite him being a sprit, cold to the touch, he could still feel the warmth that his father always radiated. Kneeling down, Reed moved his hands to Sydney's shoulders and looked him in the eyes, a glint of determination held there, before disappearing from sight as the magic circle under Sydney's feet disappeared.

Aaron moved to Sydney's front, where Reed had just been standing. "So what are we going to do now? It's not like we can snap our fingers and have Zack and Cody suddenly becomes stronger than they've ever been before."

"You're right, Aar," Sydney agreed. He placed his hand on Aaron's shoulder and started to lead him out of the room. "This means that we're going to have to practice a lot. And if that's the case, then I'm sure that Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca would find the means to help us with it."

Aaron's eyebrow twitched upwards. "Are you sure about that? Especially considering Mother Nature was the one that had caused so much damage and destruction before." He waited as Sydney opened the door to the room and the two walked out of it. "I'm not saying we shouldn't trust them, I'm just saying that for the most part we don't know what we're up against."

"That's always the point, isn't it?"

"I guess."

The cousins smiled at each other before they left the room to go find their friends to tell them everything they had figured out. Aaron suddenly stopped and tilted his head to the side. Turning around, he focused himself towards a stained glass window that had darkened as he stood there. Tilting his head in the opposite direction, Aaron started to glow a bright white in color.

"Whoa." Sydney took a step back. "What's going on?"

Finally, the light faded and Aaron turned back to Sydney. "It's the moon," he remarked. "We're going to be in some trouble. We need to get back to Earth as soon as possible. There's something big coming and we have to be ready for it."

"Could you see it?" Sydney pressed.

Aaron shook his head. "It doesn't work that way," he reminded his cousin. "I'm not really sure how it works exactly, but it's not something to be taken lightly. I need to get back to Dad and figure out what's going on, it hasn't happened for long, just since I got the Element stone of light." He stated to glow again and Sydney took a step back and held out his hand, summoning his staff just in case. "And we're going to have to get the others inside. Something tells me that Uriel is aware we're not on Earth anymore and wants to find us."

Sydney rolled his eyes. "What else is new?"

* * *

"So this is the nursery?" Bailey looked around at the cradles lined up along the cave walls. Some infants cried quietly as woman dressed in brightly adorned robes walked around, doing their best to console them. "You saw it in your dream?"

Tapeworm, who stood in the middle of the room with Canis by his side, nodded. "Yeah, this is where I found her." He gently patted Canis on the head. "This is where the guardians come back to be resurrected after their wards die."

"What about the ones that die themselves?" Bailey asked. When Tapeworm didn't respond to her question she knew immediately what he meant. _So guardians can come back to life if their wards die, but if they die themselves then they can't come back. The bond between them and their duties as a guardian is more complex than I thought. _She went over to a cradle and looked down at the baby that quietly rested inside.

She gave a soft smile as she looked at the baby as it squirmed and fell even further into sleep. Reaching out, she gently trailed her finger down its cheek. It was hard to believe that something so innocent was going to either grasp its destiny and gain the powers of its animal spirit or continue to be a human and work throughout the rest of the Element World. On Earth it wasn't like that; babies were born, grew up, went to school, got married, had kids, and went on with the rest of their lives. None of them were expected to get roped up in something like this, in something that would risk their lives every day.

Something that caused them to question their morality and what they believed in, in terms of being able to save the world each time someone new came their way. _How do they keep doing this day after day? Those in the Element World…the Elementals on Earth…how do they keep themselves going after all this?_

Once she was the cause of a few deaths, she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head. She couldn't keep the images of their lifeless bodies lying around out of her head; it caused her to bury herself in her studies before having been ripped away from Yale.

_Let's be honest, Bailey. You were never destined to go to Yale. You wanted to see the world and now you're seeing more worlds than you ever thought existed. _Bailey stepped back away from the cradle just as the sound of drums filled the air. She looked around as the women in the nursery started to take the babies out of the cradles and disappeared around the backside of the cave wall. Tapeworm picked up Canis and followed the women, when he came back, he was empty handed and Ursa appeared on his shoulder.

"That's the Mystic Melody," Bailey cried.

"What's going on?" Tapeworm asked his guardian.

"We're being attacked," Ursa said.


	29. Your training starts tomorrow

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

* * *

Bailey and Tapeworm tore out of the nursery as quickly as their feet would take them and came upon the battle scene in a matter of moments. Ursa raced ahead of Tapeworm and immediately jumped into the fray, knocking his armored opponent out of the way with a quick swipe of his paw. Recognizing the guardians of his friends already viciously fighting for their home, the two quickly jumped into the fight.

Bailey sent out blasts of light and darkness out of her hands as she fought the armored humans and beasts alike as they came towards her. Every now and then as she whipped around to try and fend off the next wave of attack, she caught glimpses of her friends as they fought alongside her. She watched as they fought viciously, sometime teaming up with each other, other times teaming up with their guardians if not fighting alone and wondered how they could do it.

How could they continue to fight these things when they had lives too? Not just the souls that were residing deep within them, but their actual lives. Did they have children? Were they on their own? Were the people that were fighting with them their friends or surrogate family?

She ducked out of the way as a leopard flew overhead and twisted around, shooting a blast of light at it. She watched as it screeched in pain, falling onto its side, and scrabbling its paws towards the ground. Bailey continued to shoot blasts of light towards the leopard as it continued to lie on the ground. The bolts of light continued to grow in size until the bolt of light converged and started to grow in length.

_What…what's going on? _She thought, watching as it continued to increase in size and brightness. The light became so blinding that she had to close her eyes and turn away, lowering her hands as she did so. The second she made that movement, the light faded and she was struck in the stomach by the blunt end of a sword. She back peddled, hoping to catch her balance, but fell to the ground. Bringing her arms up, she did her best to shield her face as the warrior stood above her and brought the sword high above his head. The sword started to come down, but a commanding voice bellowed over the grounds, halting all movement around her.

"How dare you destroy my Kingdom when there's a peace settlement in effect?" Bailey turned around and spotted Mother Nature standing on a balcony, looking over the grounds in front of her. "Who is the leader here?"

"I, Magnus," The man at the front of the group called back, holding a spear up high into the air. Bailey swept her hair from her face. "Your rule and the peace settlement were broken when you went down to destroy Earth, when there was no one else here to run the kingdom. In your absence many of us have fallen under a new leader."

"And who may I ask is this leader that you speak of?"

"Uriel of Earth!" Magnus shouted back, his voice echoing amongst the ever silent crowd. "The supreme ruler that will turn our kingdom back to the way it was. Back when things were run _well _around here."

"You all and I know that Uriel isn't someone to be trusted on their own. Just as Gattaca has made his mistakes, Uriel has made the ultimate decision that can't be taken back unless we show him that running off on his own, not taking the punishments of his past misdeeds will allow him to fall further into the darkness that is eating away at his heart and tearing away at our kingdom." Mother Nature glared down at Magnus and the rest of the warriors that had followed him. "Now begone before the utmost punishment shall befall upon you all." She gazed around at the group that stood in front of her. "Those that have traveled from Earth to the Element World, please come insight as there are very important and pressing matters, which have unfortunately come to my attention sooner than anticipated, we need to address."

She scanned the grounds of the kingdom once more before gesturing towards the row of unarmored humans that stood in straight line in front of the entrance to the castle. At the same time they lifted their spears and crisscrossed them before starting to take a few steps forward. There was the sound of drums that filled the air, slightly different than the Mystic Melody the inhabitants of the world were used to. And as Bailey watched in surprise, those that were in support of Uriel backed away and left the area until they were completely out of sight.

"Bailey, are you okay?"

Bailey looked up to see Geneva and Gattaca standing before her, both looking down at her in concern. Slowly nodding, Bailey looked back and forth between the two of them. They had no troubles when it came to helping her fight, even if it were people that used to be under their rule. They didn't hesitate for a moment, just went right into the fight.

_Like Cody did, _she reminded herself. _Maybe that's what they and the rest of the group had been trying to tell me…ever since they told me about their fight with the Elementals in the first place._

She remembered that day just as clearly as any other day that was incredibly important in her life. Not only had she been completely blindsided by it, but she actually fond it to be a bit clever that Cody was using their whole situation and as a cover for a project. Not only would he have gotten a good grade for the things he had seen firsthand, but from what she understood it was a good way to make sure he was keeping tabs on his friends as they were continuously doing their own thing before their three year adventure had started.

Bailey could only watch as Reihu moved closer and closer to her. Right before her eyes, his green eyes changed from one that was a human to cat-like eyes. And as he smirked, his canines grew longer, and his hands and feet turned into paws as a long tail appeared behind him.

"Leave her alone!"

Reihu merely snorted at Cody's outburst and continued towards Bailey. She backed up as far as she could until I hit a brick wall, and cowered in fear. Closing her eyes, waiting for pain to come, or even the feeling of his paws grabbing onto her arm, but nothing happened. Bailey heard the sound of a cat wailing and hissing in fury and opened her eyes to see that Reihu was soaked from head to toe, his clothes dripping water.

Reihu snarled and whipped his head back around to face Cody. Bailey got up to her knees, still hiding behind a trash bin, and gasped when she saw that in place of Cody's arm was a watery tentacle. Cody looked annoyed, but uncaring at the same time.

Looking behind him, Bailey saw Koto inching closer and closer to Zack, his hand stretched out, nails gleaming.

"Zack! Watch out!" She shouted, getting his attention.

Without turning around, Zack balanced on his left foot, and shoved his right leg backwards, hitting Koto in the stomach and sending him back a few feet and into a brick wall. Koto pulled himself out of the wall, as if he had landed in a pile of pillows.

Before Bailey knew it, Zack, Cody, Reihu, and Koto were in an all out brawl. But to make it even weirder, the faster they moved, she could have sworn they started to glow. And she don't mean like they have a healthy glow, but actually glowing. Zack and Cody were glowing red and blue, respectively, and it was weird to see. The weirdest part was what came at the end of the fight.

Koto punched Zack across the face and the blonde boy stumbled back, holding onto his jaw. He quickly wiped the blood from his chin and sank into a fighting stance. His hands started to flow red and as the light got brighter and brighter Bailey realized that the red light was turning into flames. Before it could even register in my mind what was happening, Zack's entire right arm was covered in flames. But Zack wasn't reacting to it at all, as if he wasn't being burned.

He shoved his arm forward with the cry of "Fire Ball, Ignite!" And a wheel of flame rushed out towards Koto. Koto quickly jumped into the air, turned completely into a wolf, and landed behind Zack. He pulled his lips back and snarled at Zack before taking off down the street.

"Tsunami Wave!" Cody's arms were glowing blue. He raised his arms over his head, and Bailey heard a gurgling sound behind me. Turning around, she saw the water from the canal rising high in the air, creating a large wave. "Water Whip!" The large wave condensed into a long thing line of water and as Cody snapped his arm down, it rushed towards Reihu.

Like Koto, Reihu jumped over the water, turned into a lion, and disappeared down the street.

Zack and Cody wiped their hands off on their pants before turning towards her. Cody walked over to her and gently pulled Bailey to her feet as Zack looked around, eyes wide with worry. "Codes, what's she doing here?" Zack whispered to Cody, not so subtly. "No one is supposed to know-"

"Don't worry about it now, Zack." Cody replied as he finally turned to look at his brother. "We have to get back to the SS Tipton before it leaves without us." He turned back to her. "Are you ok, Bailey?"

"W-What was-"She stammered, trying to find my words to ask the burning questions on my mind.

"Don't worry about that now," Zack butted in. "I think we may have attracted some more," he looked over at me before turning back to Cody. "_Unwanted_ attention. We have to leave. _Now_."

"Got it." Cody replied and grabbed onto my wrist. "C'mon, Bailey!"

…

..

.

"Bailey. Psst. Bailey, wake up!"

Groaning, Bailey looked over at my clock and saw that it was only 12:10 in the morning. Annoyed, I turned back to the person that was standing by my bed. She was getting ready to curse him out, in the way that we do it back home, before she realized that Zack was standing by my bed. Bailey immediately shut up and wanted to listen to what he had to say.

Ever since they had gotten back on the boat, Zack and Cody hadn't talked about the incident at all. They just stayed quiet. During dinner they didn't say a word to her. They just kept on eating and eating and talked to the guys. At the time she thought they were trying to make her forget the whole thing, and she even tried that herself. But there's no possible way that you could forget someone being able to shoot fire out of his hands. Or someone being able to turn into a wolf. Or someone being able to jump to the ground from the roof of a nearby building and not getting hurt at all. It was all that she could think about. Even going to sleep, she had a dream of Zack and Cody fighting someone, or something really bad.

Bailey couldn't see what it was, but she could tell that it was something very important to them.

"Zack, what is it?" She finally asked, swinging her legs to the floor and glancing back to make sure that London didn't wake up.

"C'mon, we don't have much time." Zack replied before turning away and leaving the room. She quickly followed after him. He led them through many hallways and many turns, and Bailey wasn't even sure where we were going. (And that was saying something as she studied the whole map of the boat for fun when she was waiting for figure out whether or not I had been accepted to Seven Seas High.)

"Where are we going?" She finally asked.

"Don't worry, we're almost there." Zack replied, not looking over his shoulder.

They continued walking down towards the bottom of the boat for about another ten minutes before Zack came to a complete stop in front of a door that was hidden by a stack of boxes and lightly rapped on the door. The door opened and Zack slid inside, glancing back over his shoulder one more time before beckoning me inside. "You owe me big time for this, bro," Zack was saying as she entered the small room. Cody closed the door behind her and walked over to a couch that was in one of the corners of the room. "If Moseby caught me then I would be in really big trouble, and I can't afford to miss anymore days of work."

"Yeah, yeah." Cody rolled his eyes and turned to me. "It's a good thing that you came here, Bailey. There's a lot of stuff that we need to explain to you."

"What was going on?" She demanded, placing my hands on my hips. "Who were those people? And why did you-"

"If you'd let us explain this would all go by much faster, toots." Zack replied and defended himself when Cody glanced over at him. "What? I'm tired! And she wasn't supposed to find out about this anyway."

"Actually, she was." Cody replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. He continued to have a conversation with his brother as if Bailey wasn't even there. "I had a dream, recently. And in my dream it said that soon there was going to be someone that was going to find out about us, that would be a good friend and be really helpful."

"Why is it that you had the dream?" Zack demanded, sounding like he was joking. "Usually whenever we have dreams that have to do with our elements, we share one." Cody shrugged in reply.

"I don't know how it works," he admitted. "And neither do you for that matter. But I knew that the dream was talking about Bailey as soon as she had demanded what our science project was going to be about." He said and finally turned to look at her. "I bet you're wondering what this all means."

"Uh, yeah, I'm kinda in the dark here." Bailey replied, starting to become annoyed with being ignored and having none of my questions answered.

"Ok, I'll answer the first and easiest question to answer," Cody replied and flopped down onto the couch next to Zack, motioning for her to take the chair that was across from the couch. Bailey sat down and pulled her legs up into the chair. "The reason that I wasn't really surprised with you being in the alleyway is because I knew that you would be there; because of the dream and because I purposely left my search on my computer uncleaned."

"You _did_ that?" Zack demanded and slapped his hands over his face. "I can't believe you would be so stupid! _Anyone _could have seen that!"

"No, only I did." Bailey said, trying to keep the tension down. "I cleared the history right after I was at the computer."

"Ok, here's the other thing that's going to be really hard for you to understand," Cody paused and looked over at Zack, as if he was asking for help. Zack sighed and rubbed his forehead before leaning forward, clasping his hands together.

"Cody and I…we aren't human." Zack explained his eyes boring into hers. "We're Elementals. And the things that we did with fire and water, that was real." He took a breath. "I hold the element of fire and Cody holds the element of water."

"And those two guys, Koto and Reihu, they're after us," Cody jumped in. "But they're not the only ones who are. There's a whole group of people who are trying to capture us, to get rid of our elements, and they _will_ kill us to get what they want."

"But…" She was so confused. "How did all of this happen?"

"That's going to take a while to explain." Zack hesitated.

Bailey got comfortable in her chair.

"I have time."

And now it seemed that time was the only thing that he group didn't have. Or _did _has Father Time had powers that neither of them could ever begin to imagine. Nor did she think it was possible for the powers that Mother Nature, Geneva, Gattaca, nor Uriel had. She always enjoyed reading stories and learning about superheroes and the impossible, anything bigger than Kettlecorn was something she had been interested in, which caused her to join the SS Tipton in the first place.

_But I never thought it'd bring me to this, _Bailey thought as she followed her friends back into the castle. She hung behind them as she walked slowly, her mind trying frantically to wrap around everything she had ever learned while she had been traveling around with these guys. And now…

Slowing to a halt, Bailey's eyebrows scrunched together. Something had just truck her as odd, something she hadn't thought of before that made a lot more sense than she had originally thought it would. _Cody had said that he had a dream about me, being able to help them. If that were the case…then maybe I was supposed to them from the very beginning. If the prophecy is true, maybe I had been destined to go onto the SS Tipton, meet them, saw what was going on and help them out. Or maybe…_

Bailey grabbed Geneva and Gattaca's attention and turned towards them with a deep frown on her face. "Am I some sort of reincarnate?" She demanded as soon as she had their attention. "I don't have the same sort of powers that the others have, neither does Aaron. But why am I still able to use the powers of light and darkness without any effects coming back to me? How come I can talk to you in my head and borrow your powers and…and do all of that but am still told that I'm a regular human. How can I be human and be part of the prophecy?"

"My you have a lot more questions than I anticipated you would," Mother Nature's calm, melodious voice wafted over to Bailey. Geneva and Gattaca turned around and bowed towards their mother before stepping aside so that she could stand directly in front of Bailey. "Though from watching you for the duration I needed, I've always been aware of the fact that your intelligence is something that should be heralded."

Bailey swallowed thickly. It was obvious that this woman ran the entire Element Kingdom while Father Time, despite being her husband, was a step below her on the power scale. She knew from the research she had done in science over the years that it was just following nature in general. There was to be no time with nature and no nature without time; however how were you able to display the passage of time without nature being the medium that showed it? Same as for the Element World, she supposed, though Bailey wasn't even sure how many other areas of the World were being run by Mother Nature or if there _were _other parts of the World than what they had seen.

Not only had it not existed to her—it being a foreign object more than anything else—for a long time, but there were still so many faction of it that baffled her. How was it created and had it always been closely linked to Earth? If any of the research that Christian and Core was any indicator, they needed to get back to Earth as soon as possible.

"I don't mean any disrespect," Bailey said quickly. "It's just…we're not getting a lot of information that could be useful to us. And…we don't know what's happening back on Earth."

As the words came out of Bailey's mouth, Mother Nature's eyes darkened. She sucked in a deep breath, the emerald coloring of her robes swelling with the force of the intake before letting it out calmly. She turned on her heel and led the group back into the room they had been in when eating lunch before, but Zack stopped her, speaking up for the first time since the fight.

"Bailey's right," he insisted.

Bailey could tell from the look on his face, the suspicion and weariness that he still wasn't sure whether or not to trust Mother Nature. Though, she was sure his thoughts were still clouded by what had happened to Blazen the last time he had fought her. His guardian had nearly died within a few attacks from the arbori, just to protect him.

If it wasn't for the fact it was the job that the guardians had taken ever since they agreed to take on their animal spirits, Bailey knew Zack would do everything in his power to keep it happening again. To anyone.

"We don't know anything, we don't ever have any answers to our questions," he said. "You know more about Uriel than we do and you still haven't told us how to defeat him."

"If we knew," Mother Nature said calmly. "He wouldn't have gotten away from us in the first place." She looked over at her husband, who slowly lifted his chin as he regarded the blond teen. "Fire Bearer, you are right to be worried, as we are worried about the outcomes of both worlds. I'm responsive to the mistakes I have made as I felt the connection between our worlds crumbling as you humans continued to pollute the Earth, but I now know you are not all that way. You can trust me."

Zack frowned.

"I implore you to retire to your bed chambers," Father Time spoke up. "Because tomorrow you start your training."

* * *

**A/N: **So funny to know that I had finished the last story at around this time (word and chapter length). Then again the last story moved a bit quicker as the chapters weren't so long, but it's still interesting to see. Especially considering I borrowed/re-worked a scene from Mystic Melody into this story and was able to see how things had changed/progressed back then.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	30. A Look Into The Past VII

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

* * *

Christian let out sigh of satisfaction as he lowered his beer bottle back to the table top. Shifting his weight backwards, he balanced his chair on the back two legs and crossed his arms over his chest. Letting out a wistful sigh, he turned his gaze over the streets surrounding the small restaurant, almost in a paranoid manner.

He couldn't help it. Ever since they had seen what they had seen during their graduation a few months prior, he knew there was a chance it would all come back to haunt them. If what had taken over Trethaway had been real, there was no chance they had to have a completely normal life. There was no way a…_thing _with that sort of power would leave them alone, not after the way it had attacked them.

"So where are you guys headed now?" He asked, turning to his best friends. "Where did the company place you?"

"I'm going back to Australia," Reed explained. "There's a company out there, AEA, that's offered me a job." He shrugged. "It's an entry-level, but I think they were impressed with the work and internships I managed to do in the field and offered me one." He crossed his legs, resting his hands on his chest in a pose that showcased his laid-back personality. His body language easily contradicted the somewhat tense one that Christian held. "What about you, mate?"

"Like you, I'm going back to Canada," Christian explained. "There's a company out there that's interested in my work in chemistry that I'm interested to try out. Not only that, but, from what I've seen, it's one of the better places for me to continue our other work…" he trailed off and regarded their third companion, Nathan, who sat quietly, watching the two. "I agree with what you said…we have to figure out what it is that caused that…portal to open. What caused that thing to get through to our world?"

Nathan looked amused as he rested his cheek on his upraised finger tips. "You think there are different worlds out there?" He asked. Christian nodded silently as Nathan lifted his head completely. He twisted his mouth to the side and thought for a long moment. "Not to say that it isn't possible. There are many theories out there about parallel universes." He laughed lightly. "Not that I'm saying you'll be able to make some sort of a time machine out of a phone booth that can take you to another universe, but I'm not saying it's _not _possible either.

Lowering his voice, Nathan sat up straight and looked around before leaning in towards Christian and Reed. "I managed to get deeper into some of the government files and I think I've found a few that will accompany your claim."

Reed's face slackened before his blue eyes darkened in anger. "You went back into it? Mate, they have those files under a complete lockdown now. There have been loads of people who saw something weird that day…our graduation. There've been loads of people that have tried to call in what they saw, and no one believes them. But next thing you know, some of them are dead in cases that are 'mysterious',"—he used air quotes around the words—"and there doesn't seem to be any explanation for them."

"What if they were elementals, too?"

Christian's question caused Nathan and Reed to turn towards him. He thought for a long moment before scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, I'm trying to work this out, eh? With all of the files we've found through the government and what we've managed to keep hidden on our own…we've managed to conclude that there are a _lot _more elementals than we originally thought there'd be. Right?"

"Right."

"So what if the ones that had seen what happened that day, they're elementals. Or have the ability to become them?"

"Like…the only way they can tap into that power is if they see it happen in front of them?" Reed asked. "Mate, that makes sense, but what if the person _isn't_ an elemental? Can they see it? And if not, are they completely unaware of what goes on around them until they end up dead?"

There was a brief silence that surrounded the three young men. So many questions they had, but so many answers they couldn't get to. They had managed to answer a lot of things they had been confused about simply due to their 'research' while in class. It was that research they were going to continue while they were at their jobs, having had agreed upon it. They knew it was dangerous, knew it was something that could be traced and potentially found and arrested for the work they would continue to do.

_Bu this time we won't be using the government's files, _Christian thought. _We're going to be using all of our own research and continue to further our research to prove there is something else out there. _

"What about Akito?" Nathan reminded them. "Has he said anything else about the information that we've sent him?"

"Renee says that she and Kris are going to visit him within the next few months," Reed replied. "They're going to continue to get as much information from him as they can, that we hadn't gotten when we visited him in Japan in the first place." He thought for a moment. "If anyone knows about this, it's Akito. And the more we can get from him, the easier our work will be."

"Speaking of, how's the wedding planning going?" Christian changed the subject, causing Reed to grin, almost like a shy school boy. "It's in a couple of months, isn't it?"

"Yeah, in a couple of months," Reed agreed. "The ceremony is being held in Melbourne, where I'm from. But her family is coming in from Japan and the US to come see it. And of course you guys are in it as well." He raised a hand. "Which reminds me, Renee says don't get anything off of the registry because there's going to be enough that she'll receive from her family when the day comes."

"And she has no problem moving all the way across the world, from her home in New York, to live in Australia, for your job?" Christian asked.

"Excuse me, but Kristin is moving to Canada with you."

"But that's a few hundred miles north, not all the way across the world." Christian grinned as he picked up his beer bottle again. "I'm just saying that it probably won't take long for us to get a call with her crying on the phone saying 'I made a mistake, I need your help'." He and Nathan laughed.

"Cheers, mate." Reed rolled his eyes before finishing off his own beer. He set it down in the middle of the table. "What about you, man?" He asked Nathan. "Where are you going with your job?"

"Can't tell you."

Christian's eyebrows rose as he exchanged a glance with Reed. It wasn't particularly that surprising, Nathan had always been secretive, and kept a lot of things to himself. There was something about him that always managed to creep him out a little and Christian couldn't quite place his finger on it. There was nothing wrong with being a loner, but before they had stumbled upon the elementals, he had never noticed him. No, instead he had continued to hang around with his own friends, had met and become best friends with Reed after they had their dorms assignments down the hall from each other for years since they had first arrived at University. Thinking about it now, Christian wasn't sure he had ever seen Nathan on campus, and yet, there he had been that fateful day in class.

Would they even be friends if this hadn't had gone on?

If they hadn't had been in that class that day?

If Nathan hadn't had asked the professor that one question that would set everything in motion. Then again, he did believe that everything happened for a reason and if it didn't work out the way it had, then it would've come around in another way.

"You're not going into the witness protection program are you, mate?" Reed joked.

Finally Nathan laughed, his eyes lighting up. "No, nothing like that," he said. "I can't tell you where I'm going because we don't have a final place set up yet. However, once I do get that information, I'll let you know. Besides,"—he waved a hand, trying to change the subject—"it's all classified information. I couldn't tell you a lot about it anyway."

Reed and Christian exchanged another glance and the two came to the same conclusion. "You're working for the government aren't you?"

Nathan shrugged and smiled, neither confirming nor denying the accusation, then looked at his watch. "I have to get going," he said. "So much stuff to do and I need to start packing. Someone told me that the Australian weather is unpredictable and a bitch to deal with if you're not ready."

Reed rolled his eyes. "It's not that bloody bad, boofhead," he said. "Don't believe the hype. And the wedding it's for another few months, you don't need to pack that early."

He shrugged once more. But this time, his shrug had an eerie tone to it. Nothing weird about moving shoulders up and down, bringing shoulder blades and back muscles together. But there was still _something _off about Nathan. He wasn't acting like himself, wasn't as talkative as usual, and wasn't showing off his intellectual prowess as he had done before, didn't have that slight sense of arrogance to him. It was like it was only a fraction of Nathan still inside him; something had changed with him since graduation day.

"It pays to be prepared."


	31. She's the key

CHAPTER THIRTY

* * *

Uriel crossed his arms, tapping his fingers against the inside skin. Looking down, he rubbed his hand against the upraised skin, the bumps and lumps that had come from one of the few attacks that had managed to catch him off guard. The burns that would never go away, despite how many times he had tried to heal himself. But, he supposed, that was the price to pay for placing that curse on the man after that little guardian fox had dome so much damage. He should've seen it coming; honestly, it was the only time had been caught off guard.

Until now.

Now, as he looked down at the figures that lay before him, he could barely contain his anger. He was so close o taking over the world and now, there was a wrench in his plan right in front of him. In those insignificant bodies that lay on the ground in front of him, protected by some sort of barrier he couldn't get through. He had seen it only once before and it had been one of the few times he had been nearly defeated, the only time he had to take so many souls, the only time he had to go into hiding and to split himself into so many different people as he gathered his strength back.

Not that it had been a total waste; he had been able to watch Zack, Cody and all of the others for so long he knew them perfectly. He knew their fight patterns, their hopes and dreams, even the insignificant things their best friends didn't know about each other. He knew the best ways to stop them in their tracks and to do the most damage to them, but it wasn't the right time. No, he had to wait until they got back on Earth, until then he could continue to expand his reach as far as he could, taking down as many Elementals as he could along the way, eliminating others that hadn't awakened yet, leaving the ones behind that had no connection to the powers that some exhibited in any way, shape or form.

"Sir."

Uriel turned just as the shadows on the wall moved and a shadow elemental appeared at his side. True to his power, the skin of the man was gray, hair dark, and eyes dull. There was an upside down crescent moon with arrows behind it on his forehead; his element mark. He was one of the few he could trust from the Element World, his power making him very easy to work alongside with. He had been Uriel's top supporter as soon as the seal between the Element World and Earth had fallen apart.

"We've cleared out many of the areas that you've told us to, however, I regret to inform you that there is an uprising being planned. We don't know where it's coming from, but we know that it's bound to be coming soon." The Shadow Elemental paused. "Do you think they'll return from the Element World in enough time?"

"I'm not going to allow myself to think of it," Uriel replied. He clenched his hand into a fist. "Knowing Mother Nature, Father Time…they're being trained up there so they can beat me. And with their Element Stones…it's possible they may succeed. But they've been gone for months, once they return they'll see that things have really changed around here, they may not be able to handle the fallout." He turned back to the bodies on the floor, looking over London, Kurt, Carey, Mr. Moseby, and Esteban.

"What do you want us to do with these prisoners?" The Shadow Elemental continued. "They have done nothing to help us."

"Oh but they have, in more ways than you could ever imagine." He cast a disapproving glance at London. "This girl didn't give us much information, I don't know if she truly is that blind or if she was just trying to protect them. In all, she'll only be usefully as the others would, as collateral damage when we need them." He then walked over to Carey and hovered over her. "Now, she's different. We need her," Uriel said, gazing at Carey. "She's the key."

"Key to what?" The Shadow Elemental questions.

"You know as well as I do that the Elemental bloodline comes through originated through the mother's bloodline. If there's anything that'll give us a means to defeat Zack and Cody and to destroy all of the others…it'll be through her."

Uriel slowly closed his eyes and kept them closed for a while. "We don't have much time."

Lifting his hands, he started to use his powers to chip away at the barrier that was covering them. Strong blasts that slowly started to chip away at their last hope.

* * *

"Could the spirit bearer and earth bearer please step forward?" Mother Nature called from the highest balcony of the expansive, empty room. Beside her sat Father Time and her children, all watching the ground below them with a critical eye.

Down below, in an area that was much like a baseball dugout sat the Elementals of Earth. As Sydney and Tapeworm were called, they glanced at each other in confusion before climbing out of the dugout and walking out into the middle of the room.

"When you get back to Earth, there are going to be many followers under Uriel that you have to fight," Father Time called, his voice regal as it wafted around the room. "Many will be with his powers, many will have powers you've never come up against before, and there are those that are going to be stronger than you without powers at all. We need for you to be sure that you can control everything that comes your way."

"The match-ups have been randomly chosen," Mother Nature spoke up once more. "However they're also what we believe will bring you to your full potential as an Elemental as we feel that many of you are holding back for your own reasons or another. Uriel will not hold back in his fight until each and every one of you are dead. Even after that he will not stop until he is completely defeated. I will not risk your lives if I didn't believe…if I didn't _know_ you were able to defeat him. I hope you can exhibit that, if so, and then you will prove that you are indeed the ones the prophecy has determined to save us."

Sydney stretched his arms out in front of him before taking a step forward, and then looked over at his friends. Was he confident? The arrogant part of him was sure there were many ways that he could defeat Tapeworm, especially with the different forms of spirit that he could use to battle against the Earth Elemental. However, he was also aware there were many ways Tapeworm could overpower him, especially when his heart and head were in the right place.

As a matter of fact, depending on all of the match-ups that were going to be showcased, everyone had an equal chance of winning or losing against whomever they were pitted. This was going to be interesting, he determined. Especially in the eyes of Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca as they were the ones that held the most rule along the Element World. If they were the ones that had a hand in determining who was able to turn into an Elemental and have their special ceremony to get their animal spirit.

_/Don't worry, Syd/ _SpiritSaru's voice came into his head. /_They won't let us go to the point where we would nearly kill each other. This is just for practice./_

_I know that, I just didn't think that we'd be fighting each other, _Sydney replied. _I thought we would be fighting their guards or people that work for Mother Nature and Father Time. Or maybe people like Magnus._

_/We'll figure it out, don't worry. I'll protect you like I promised when I had first taken upon the role in my animal spirit ceremony./_

_Thank you._

Tapeworm took a deep breath as he gazed across the clearing at his youngest friend, who appeared just as concerned as he looked back at him. What was the point of this? The balance between those that were fighting, judging by how many of them were around, was going to be unbalanced, simply because of the years of experience. He, Zack, Cody, Maddie, and Aaron hadn't had their powers as long as the Jacksons and Crystal did. They had awakened to their powers years before Tapeworm had even become aware of it, having awakened himself shortly after Zack and Cody had.

He still remembered that day as clearly as he could a lot of things he had learned in school. He and Max had left the school and were going back to their house when they had seen Zack and Cody go racing by on the other side of the street. It being their new friends, Tapeworm and Max were immediately concerned and raced after them, stopping in an alley way and watching as Zack and Cody fended off a wolf and a lion that leapt their way, with blasts of fire and water.

Tapeworm remembered how his mouth had dropped open and he turned to see Max with the same expression on her face. But he wasn't afraid. For some reason he felt as if it were meant to happen, they were meant to watch the fight that was going on. And as they watched, all of a sudden, the edges of his vision started to turn dark. That's when Tapeworm became scared. Had he been knocked down by a wolf and not noticed it? Had someone come up behind him and attacked him as well? He struggled to keep his vision, but it continued to grow darker and darker until all of the scenery around him disappeared and he was standing in darkness.

"Hello?"

His voice echoed around the darkness, reverberating back to him and bouncing away over and over again. It grew louder and softer as it passed by him, swirling around and around. All of a sudden there was a bright green flash of light that appeared in front of him. It continued to increase in brightness until it slowly faded away, revealing the form of a bear cub curled up in a ball in front of him. The cub slowly uncurled itself and smiled at Tapeworm.

"Hi, Chris," he greeted the young teen, using the first name he seldom went by.

"You…you know my name?"

"I'm your guardian, I know everything about you. I was waiting for you to awaken, to take me on as your guardian and tap into your potential power as an Earth Elemental."

"Elemental?" The repetition of the word struck a chord with him. "You mean like what Zack and Cody are? The fire and water that they're able to shoot out…"

"Yes." The bear moved closer to Tapeworm, his smile widening. "I'm Ursa. Your guardian." He stretched out a paw. "If you take upon this power, you'll become an Elemental. Hurry, you have to decide quickly. I may have been assigned to you but if you don't take it…"

Tapeworm studied Ursa for a long moment before slowly, tentatively, reaching out his hand and touched it against Ursa's paw. The green light increased in illumination once more and Tapeworm had to shield his eyes from it. When he pulled his arm away, he found that he was lying on his back on the ground, staring at the sky. Looking up, he saw Zack, Cody, and Max kneeling over him, then noticed a hand pressed against his forehead. Shifting his eyes up even further, he twisted around and spotted Patrick Jackson, whom he had just met recently, with his hand placed against his forehead.

It wasn't until Tapeworm sat up and twisted around that he realized Noah was there as well, and had done the same to Max. Zack and Cody immediately grabbed their friends and hurried them back to the Tipton hotel, where they met up with Riley, Rhuben, and Sydney and had everything Elemental explained to them.

And things had gone on in a whirlwind since then. If he ever thought they would end up in the Element World back that day, he would've thought he would have gone crazy at the mere thought.

"I want you to fight as hard as you can," Mother Nature insisted. "Until one falls."

/_We can do this, Tape_/ Ursa reassured his ward. /_Just fight hard and don't worry about the outcome. Fight as long and hard as you can. You're not going to hurt him, everything will be okay._/

_You got it, _Tapeworm replied.

He took another deep breath, calming his nerves.

"Please commence when you're ready."

The two Elementals nodded and Sydney quickly started off the fight. "Water Spirits! Tidal wave!" Sydney's hands glowed blue and he pressed his palms together. The ground underneath them started to shake and Tapeworm struggled to keep his balance against the tremors. A magic circle appeared under Sydney's feet that increased in luminosity as a glowing blue line appeared on the ground. The line widened until a large tidal wave slowly rose out of the ground and towered over Sydney before slowly moving forward once more, heading towards Tapeworm.

The Earth Elemental took a step back, giving himself more space to think about what he was going to do. The wave drew nearer and nearer as Tapeworm's thoughts raced.

"Ice Spirits! Icy wind!"

Sydney followed up the attack with a quick shot of a cold gust of air following it. Tapeworm quickly realized what the boy was trying to do. He was going to soak him with water and then freeze him with the blast of air after him. A quick way to end a fight without having to do much damage.

Well, if he was going to try and make it that easy, Tapeworm wasn't going to allow him to do so. With a grunt of effort, Tapeworm placed his hands, which started to glow, on the ground and they pulsed with bursts of green light. The ripples of light moving outwards like miniature waves after a drop of water fell into a flat water-like surface. Lifting his hands, Tapeworm summoned a large rock wall up into the air, big enough to block out the wave that came towards him.

He then stomped his foot on the ground and large rocks flew up into the air and he sent them flying forward with a punch of his foot in the air, hand continuously glowing as he worked. The rocks flew overhead and headed towards the spirit elemental that worked on the other side.

Sydney twisted his mouth to the side and dove out of the way of the falling rocks. Skidding on the ground, Sydney quickly shot out his own boulders from his spirit powers and shot them back at the boulders, cracking them in mid-air.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" He called as the wave finally crashed to the ground, blocked off by a wall of rock that Tapeworm created to shield himself.

"I intend to!" Tapeworm called back.

He raced towards the spirit elemental, who ran back towards him. "Ursa!""SpiritSaru!" The elementals called out their guardians at the same time and the bear and monkey started to clash as the elementals continued to charge towards each other. Once they came together, they started to send bolts of energy at each other that quickly crashed into and negated each other every now and then a few bolts would hit each other, knocking them back.

"This is going on a lot longer than I thought it would," Maddie said honestly, her voice low as she watched the fight in front of her with rapt attention. "I figured that, because of how long he's had his powers, Syd would be able to beat him easily."

Julius shook his head. "No," he said simply. "Despite basically having them since he was born, he's still young and still has a lot of time to tap into his full potential. He's strong, very strong, but there are still moments where he's not strong enough."

Back on the battlefield, Tapeworm and Sydney stared to fight in hand to hand combat with parts of their powers thrown in when the opportunity arose. Tapeworm shot vines out of his hands and they wrapped around Sydney, pinning his arms to his sides. "Razor blade!" Tapeworm leapt high into the air and sent a stream of razor sharp leaves to the young elemental, causing him to squirm and react with pain as the leaves hit him. One even slashed by Sydney's face and cut him across the cheek where a thin red line appeared, a bead of blood sliding down his cheek.

Hunching over slightly, arms bent slightly as he readied himself to break out of the vines. "Nice try! Berserk!" Sydney crouched even lower and with a burst of air underneath him, shot himself up into the air, spinning in a tight circle. As he continued to spin, he broke out of the vines and started to gather energy together in his cupped hands. "SpiritSaru!"

Hearing Sydney called for his guardian; Tapeworm immediately drew his own guardian back to his side and waited to see what would happen. The bright light continued to glow and the ball of energy increased in size. And continue to increase and increase and increase as the seconds passed.

"Ursa! Go!" Tapeworm commanded.

Ursa roared loudly and leapt high into the air, crashing into SpiritSaru. As soon as he hit the spirit guardian, he was knocked back onto the ground. Tapeworm winced as he felt pain wrench at his shoulder and socket, the exact place that Ursa had hit when he fell to the ground. Tapeworm shot out another set of vines that wrapped around Sydney's ankle, holding him still despite the continuously growing ball of spirit energy. He did the same with Sydney's other foot them backed up, looking over at Ursa.

/_This attack is going to be big,/ _Ursa warned him. /_It'll be hard to stop it once it gets going. You're going to have to do something drastic./_

_I guess this is what Mother Nature meant, _Tapeworm thought as he glanced over at the standings. Each of his friends was watching in stunned silence, never having seen either of the elementals fight so hard before. It was astounding to see how hard they were working and how easily they were fighting back against each other.

Which brought up an important question: who was going to be fighting next? How were those fights going to go? What was going to happen if someone won and someone lost?

Tapeworm immediately focused his attention on all of the strength and power within him. He placed a hand on his chest and tapped into the power, taking the power from Ursa as well. The ground beneath him started to shake and large spires shot out of the ground, crossing against each other and covering Tapeworm, enclosing him in a tomb. The spires continued to shoot out of the ground, higher and higher as the seconds passed, enclosing him in even further.

Finally, with a scream of effort, Sydney stopped spinning and brought his arms up above his head. The spirit energy ball followed his movements and he threw it down towards Tapeworm as hard as he could. At the same time, Tapeworm let out a scream of an effort and the outer shell of the spires rocketed outwards and shot towards Sydney as well. The two attacks shot by each other and crashed into the elementals in an impressive light that filled the entire room. Then there was a low implosion and smoke and dust filled the room.

Sydney gasped as he was hit the by the blast before he felt himself rocketing to the other side of the room and crashing into the wall behind him. He slid to the floor and fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. He felt like he had just ran a marathon two hundred times. There was not an ounce of energy left in him. It was the first time he had ever tried to use his Spirit Bomb attack, knowing what sort of energy it took from him and the living beings around him to do so. But that was the point, he wasn't to hold back.

But maybe he had used it too soon.

Lifting his head, the young boy looked across the battle field and spotted Tapeworm struggling to keep himself up as well. That caused Sydney to smile a little, now all he had to do was get the last blast in. Turning his head to the side, he watched as SpiritSaru disappeared in a flash of blue light, coming to a rest inside his ward until he gathered his strength once more. That had been one of the things he hadn't anticipated much either, that he had to use a lot of the power that his guardian held to move forward.

Sydney's vision slanted to the side and he fell to his knees. Looking over at the other side of the battlefield, he watched as Tapeworm struggled to stay up before the two pitched to the side and fell onto the ground.

It was a tie.

* * *

**A/N: **To figure out who would be going against whom, I used a random generator to see who would be paired up. I'm glad with the way they came out. There's advantages and disadvantages to both and I think the elementals that fought/are going to fight each other are the best matched.

It was random, I swear.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	32. Face certain death hundreds of times (1)

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

* * *

_March 16, 1992_

"I just got laughed at by three nurses because I said that I thought the name 'poutine' was a stupid name for food that actually tastes good," Reed remarked as he sat down in a chair in the waiting room, a plastic bag in his hands.

Beside him, his wife laughed lightly, resting her hands on the light bulge of her stomach, while on his other side, Nathan smiled, the corner of his mouth lifting up. In front of him, his two year old son, Julius, toddled back and forth in front of him, a building block in his hands. He turned back to his father and looked up at him with a big smile, walking closer as Reed took a Styrofoam box out of the bag and handed it over to Renee before giving another one to Nathan and taking one for himself.

"Well, they already laughed at the fact that you didn't understand what a parking lot was," Renee reminded him.

"He knew what it was," Nathan defended his friend. "It was just that the nurses couldn't understand his accent." He and Renee laughed as Reed rolled his eyes. He put the box of food aside and reached out, grabbing onto Julius under the arms and lifted him up onto his lap. "How long has she been in labor now?"

"For a while," Renee said. She looked at her watch before letting out a quiet sigh. "A bit longer than we thought she would be after being brought I last night. Christian hasn't said anything for a while, so I guess it's harder on her than she thought it would be." Bringing a hand up to her mouth, she started to chew on her thumbnail. "I hope she's alright."

"I'm sure she's fine, Renee," Nathan said. He pushed around his food, staring down at it. He cleared his throat then changed the subject, lowering his voice. "Do you think she'll end up being like Julius?" He asked, nodding over to the toddler as Reed carefully fed him small bites of poutine. "Do you think she'll have a mark?" He paused. "Though I must say that I'm surprised Julius awakened so early."

"We won't know until after she's born," Reed reminded him. "It might be a while until she starts to exhibit her own powers if she has any. But it's a good chance she will if Julius does, yeah?"

"Daddy," Julius said, reaching for more poutine, which was held a few inches from his grasp. "I'm hungry." Renee shot her husband a look before moving Julius over to her lap and gave him some of hers. "I don't wanna squish the baby." He reached out and gently patted his mother's stomach before pressing his ear against it.

"The baby'll be fine," Renee reassured him.

Reed smiled.

He looked up as footsteps headed their way and he found Christian waking towards them, carefully pulling off his face mask and gloves. Albeit appearing tired, with bags under his eyes, Christian couldn't help but smile widely. "As of ten minutes ago, my daughter was born," he announced.

"Oh Christian, congratulations!" Renee stood up, gently placing Julius on the floor before leaning over to her brother-in-law and giving him a hug. She stepped back out of the way to allow Reed and Nathan to congratulate him as well. "Are she and Kristen okay? She was in labor for a long time."

Christian hesitated. "There were some complications," he admitted. "Since she was born prematurely, there were some things they had to be careful of, which made it take some time." He then appeared nervous. "She's so small though, and the doctors want to keep her here for a while, to be sure everything's okay before she goes home." The large smile slid back onto his face. "But you can go in and see them before she's taken back."

"Sounds good," Nathan agreed. The group fell in step with Christian as they headed towards Kristen's hospital room. "We were just talking about the possibility of her becoming an Elemental like Julius is," he said. "If so, we'll have to keep an even bigger eye on them than we originally thought."

"It's a good thing that you mentioned that, because there's something that Kristen wants to ask you," Christian said. He nodded at a doctor that they passed before arriving at his wife's hospital room and walked inside. Kristen sat up in her bed, gently smiling down at the quiet bundle that was cradled in her arms. She looked up and smiled at her twin sister, her brother-in-law, her nephew, her husband, and her best friend.

"Hey," she greeted them all, her voice just above a whisper. "Do you want to meet your niece?" She gestured the baby out towards Renee, who took the bundle and sat down in the chair next to the bed and gently bounced her up and down. Julius walked over to his mother and looked down into his cousin's face, watching as she yawned before opening her eyes and looking up at her family.

"What's her name?" Nathan asked; reaching out and gently ran his finger across her nose. The baby's eyes crossed as she followed his finger then righted once more when he pulled it away, smiling a little.

"Crystalline Jade Manning, but Crystal for short," Kristen replied.

Reed snorted. "You all must have big egos if you want all of your names to sound similar." Renee shot him a glare and he shrugged in reply and Kristen laughed quietly. "I'm just saying."

"Oh really? Considering your names both start with an 'R' and Julius's middle names do, too," Christian pointed out. Reed shrugged one more and opened his arms, allowing Renee to pass Crystal over to him. She made a light cooing sound before bringing her fist up to the side of her face, opening and closing her palm. "Just saying we're not the only ones with egos."

"Must run in the family," Nathan remarked. He leaned over Kristen and gave her a kiss on the side of the head. "Good job, girl. Get some rest, okay?"

"I would once I know what you guys were thinking of in terms of whether or not we need to go into hiding," Kristen remarked. Despite how tired she appeared, there was still sharpness in her eyes. "I might've just had a baby, but I still know when there's something that I need to be included on."

"Which is hysterical considering she's the older twin," Renee pointed out with a half smile.

Kristen smiled back.

"I was saying that we can't make a decision until we know for sure whether or not there's anything to worry about," Nathan pointed out. "Not only do we not know if she'll get the gene, like Julius has, but we don't know if she'll exhibit it the same ways he did." He scratched the side of his neck. "Considering our studies, we all know that the awakening process can happen at any time, we just have to be sure that we're the only ones around when it does happen."

Christian nodded in agreement as he watched Reed hand Crystal over to Nathan, with Julius toddling along after him, wanting to keep an eye on the baby. If he had anything to say about it, she wouldn't exhibit any powers and get sucked in the world they had grown to know over the years.

For they all knew that getting into it was essentially a death sentence.

* * *

Cody brushed his hair back out of his face as he peered into an empty room then continued outside of the castle. It was strange to leave and go out onto the grounds and see how there were so many humans and animals living together in harmony. He could already see so many differences between the Element World and Earth, but a million similarities all the same. The social classes and economic structures seemed to rival the periods of civilization of the agricultural period before the industrial period calm along.

But on the other hand, it was the only part of the kingdom they had been allowed to see; the grounds, the nursery, the fields, and some of the areas that stretched out to the combining beaches. They weren't allowed to go to the volcanic areas, the snowy mountains, or other portions of the kingdom that they had only seen so far on maps, simply because it was too dangerous. If other beings, like Magnus, were to capture them, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Nevertheless, there was still so much to learn about the place that Cody couldn't wait to get started on. He wanted to know everything about the way they lived and what happened when they were completely in harmony, and what happened when Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, Gattaca, and maybe even Uriel were able to work together to make sure the peace of the world was restored. As far as Cody was concerned, the only thing that was weighing on his mind at the moment was what would happen when everything was finished. No to Earth but to the world they were never sure existed in the first place.

He didn't care about the questions that hadn't been answered only because there were more that usually came up, and as he knew a scientists' work was never done. Maybe he could eventually get the Nobel Prize for his research with the two worlds.

_Maybe that's what Christian, Kristen, Core, Reed and Renee were close to achieving, _Cody thought as he continued to stroll across the grass of the kingdom. _Maybe I can do that for them. _He first went to the nursery and wasn't surprised to find Tapeworm already there, sitting on the ground with Canis in his lap, a bunch of other little kids about her age crawling over him and pulling at his clothes. _I guess this is the best place for him to still be in contact with Max._

Then, walking out of the nursery and heading towards the fields he found Zack and Blazen helping along with the planting of new crops. Zack spotted his brother and paused in his movements, nodding towards him. "I thought you would be inside with Bailey, learning everything you could about the history of the kingdom."

"I'm going to do that later," Cody called back. "There are some things I need to speak to Mother Nature and Father Time about, but I can do that later." Cody then raised an eyebrow as he looked down at his brother, Phantom appearing on his shoulder. "So why is it that you're able to help them, but you won't even clean up your room?" He asked.

Zack wiped dirt off his forehead before raising a hand to shield his face. "I find this to be a bit more important than the cleaning up things that don't really matter, I guess." He crossed his arms over his chest. "In the grand scheme of things, this seems more important." He walked over to Cody, holding out his hand and the water-bearer reached out and grasped his twin brother's hand, pulling him up the slight dune before the two sat down on the end of it. "Which is strange, you have to face certain death hundreds of times before it finally clicked."

"Mmm." Cody nodded.

He looked out across the fields, watching as the workers continued to work through the blazing sun, digging up holes and planting crops. He couldn't help but notice that they all had smiles on their faces, as if they didn't have a care in the world. Magnus and the rest of his followers had been banished from the kingdom, who knew where they were. At the moment Uriel wasn't a threat or even a distant thought in the back of their heads.

Life moved on.

Did that mean the same back at the Tipton?

"Mom and Dad, they came back," Cody finally said, dragging Zack's eyes over to his twin brother.

"Really?" Blazen asked, poking his head around Zack's shoulder and regarded his master's twin with wide eyes. Phantom then appeared on Cody's shoulder and the two hopped down onto the ground between their masters. "I didn't think they were going to go back. Not after they ran out on us when they first knew of our existence."

"I'll admit their reactions weren't great," Phantom added. "But even I believed they would be more open to the idea." Zack pointed at the eagles, letting him know that he agreed with what the guardians had to say.

"Yeah, they came back because they saw that we were in on everything that was going on," Cody explained. "Which I'm sure was from the constant cameras that were being flung around in our faces." He rolled his eyes. "And to think I would be happier to sit in class and wonder if a battle barrier was going to come up rather than have a news camera shoved in my face." He brought his hair back behind him in a ponytail and released it over his shoulders. "They came back to say they were proud of us and that they know we're going to save the world."

Zack tilted his head to the side, giving a funny look. "And to think the least of their worries was whether or not I was going to pass my classes."

Cody laughed. "Or stay on your diet."

"Or graduate."

"Or get over my laziness."

"Or be happy."

Zack's eyebrows furrowed together and he made a sound of confusion. Cody sighed lightly tilting his head back and allowed the sun to warm his face. He hadn't meant to bring up a heavy conversation topic, but it had to be done. Besides, if it meant they'd be sure that they could keep going forward, with both himself and Zack at the lead of everything, being the strongest elementals of all time and being the lead around the prophecy, it was better to go in with a clean slate, where their past was expunged in many ways.

"For a long time Mom worried about whether or not you were truly happy or that you would be happy with your future," Cody admitted. "Because you could never find that one thing that you felt you were good at, that you were always being compared to me…" He lowered his gaze from the sun and looked around the fields. "Which I truly do apologize for, but it's bound to happen when you're twins or even siblings in general. And I'm sorry I didn't try to help you more. But you were the first one to be on board with this whole elemental thing…which I'm sure was for more reasons than one. You were the one that immediately wanted to start in on this adventure; who knew that we were destined for more than middle school, high school, and college. You helped me realize that I'm stronger than I thought."

"Okay, you're really starting to make me wonder if you're dying or if you have some sort of a love confession you want to tell me," Zack said. He held up his hands. "Either way it's creeping me out just a little."

Cody laughed again. "I'm just saying that, like Mom and Dad, no matter what happens, I'm proud of everything we've managed to do."

Zack studied his brother for a long moment. Gone was the boy that used to be so sensitive and so open with everything he ever felt, emotion wise. In its place was a confident eighteen year old boy that used his strategic prowess to help him, to continue to be Zack's right hand man, and figure out some of their toughest barriers in the Element world. "You don't think we're going to die?"

"No."

"You said that without hesitation."

"Yeah, well, you still owe me over 100 dollars total from all of the money you've stolen from me and I intend to get that back." Cody smiled and reached out, running his hand over Phantom's back. He then turned to Blazen and frowned, noticing the large scar that still remained on the guardian's back from the fight with Mother Nature. He knew they wouldn't be able to handle another loss like they had Max. But the fight were bound to get more difficult, if not more deadly and they needed to be prepared for the worse. "Have you seen Crystal anywhere?"

"Yeah, she , Rhu, and Riles went to meet their guardians' parents," Zack said, pointing over his shoulder. "Last I saw they were walking along the forest edge."

"You didn't want to go?"

"Nah." Zack scratched at his bare chest and Cody followed his gaze, lightly shaking his head when he spotted young women hanging around the end of the field, looking over at the twins and giggling as the older woman continued to work. "I figured it'd be better if I stayed here to help."

Cody nodded and waved to the girls before turning back to Zack and placing his hand on his shoulder. "Let me just remind of you of the phrase 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' and that there's probably a reason that Riles' element is actually dark fire."

Zack tilted his head back and laughed as Cody got up from the ground, brushing off the seat of his pants. "Don't worry bro; I'm not going to make that mistake again." A strange, peaceful expression slid onto his face as he brought up his knees and wrapped his arms around them. "I've already lost someone special to me; I'm not going to do it again."

Cody nodded and patted his brother once more before heading off in the direction that Zack had pointed him to. Along the way he found Patrick, Noah, Aaron, and Sydney listening intently to a story that an older man was telling a group of people that were at rapt attention that told of some of the older battles the Element World had seen. Each of them carried brightly colored packages in their hands. The water elemental made a mental note to ask about it later, in case it would give them some leverage over their impending fight with Uriel.

Finally, he spotted the three cousins walking along the forest line with their guardians in their human forms, and an exotic looking man and woman along with them. Cody caught their attention and nodded before hurrying over to them.

"Hey Cody," Riley greeted him. She nodded over towards the man and woman. "This is Arielle and Kohl, DalFang, Dricer's, and DeathLiger's mother and father."

"It's nice to meet you." Cody politely stuck out his hand and shook Arielle's and Kohl's firmly. He then paused as he listened to their names. "Arielle and Kohl?"

"Yes, upon the acceptance of your element, animal spirit and your status of a guardian, you also get a name change that represents those traits," Kohl explained. His voice was low but very friendly despite the somewhat stern expression on his face. His eyes crinkled in the corners. "Personally they weren't my first choices for names, but what can you do."

Cody laughed.

"Did you want to come walking with us?" Crystal offered. "They were telling us a lot of interesting stories about living here."

"Maybe later, I was hoping could speak with you for a few minutes," he said to her. His gaze shifted over to Riley and Rhuben and they silently widened their eyes slightly, letting him know it was the perfect time to do so. Crystal shrugged and nodded before motioned to her twin cousins that she would be back soon and Cody took her hand as they turned from the forest and started across the grassy plains. In the distance they could see the mountain that loomed ahead them. Almost like a beacon of hope in a way.

"What's going on, Cody?" Dricer asked, leaning against his mistress's shoulder. He then turned and gently jumped up on top of her head, causing her to laugh and try to regain her balance. "There doesn't appear to be any sort of danger."

"Not unless you count Zack helping with the planting of food," Phantom added; a light lift to his voice. "I suggest that we all be very careful when our next round of food comes around."

Another laugh escaped Cody's lips. He couldn't help it, despite the seriousness of everything around him, something about being in the Element world made him a bit more carefree and less worried over everything. As a matter of fact, he was sure she was the only one that had forgotten what day it was.

"I'll keep that in mind," Crystal laughed. She regarded her boyfriend with a raised eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. Then a curious expression slid onto his face as he couldn't help but smile. "What's going on? I haven't seen you smile like this since you were star struck when meeting Lance Durham at the conference."

Cody couldn't help his excitement at having met the scientist. Not only was he one of the world's most renowned theorists in communication, but to know he had also dabbled in Elemental's studies, he couldn't help but allow his…overzealous excitement get in the way. It wasn't fault that he had weak blood flow; he passed out at just about anything.

"Today's a special day," he said to her.

Her eyes shifted around the area. "Because it's sunny? Or because Tapeworm and Sydney didn't actually kill each other enough so that he and Aaron had enough energy to jump on my back this morning?"

"No, I was thinking more like…" Cody reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a crystal rose. In fact, it was made out of water that he had manipulated. It had taken him a long time to figure out how to do it, but he used his ability of manipulation over hard water to form the shape of the rose and then turning it to a sort of gel and hardening it until it didn't revert to its normal state where it leaked everywhere. "Happy Birthday."

Crystal's face immediately softened and she tilted her head to the side, taking the crystal rose from him. "Thank you," she said sincerely. "But there are more important things to worry about than my birthday."

"I don't think so." Cody stepped forward and kissed her, happy that she kissed him back. "If we're going to keeping doing this…we need to remember that we're still human. And I think your birthday…your happiness, it much more important than all of this. Especially as we keep going closer to our potential inevitable deaths."

"Way to ruin the mood, Codes," Crystal remarked.

"Sorry, Tally." Cody gave her a kiss on the cheek then flashed a charming smile that was very much reminiscent of his twin brother's. "But I really do want you to have a good birthday, no matter the fact that we're in a world that we don't know how anything works."

Crystal reached out and held onto the sides of Cody's face, making sure he was looking directly at her. "I don't care where we are or what's happening around us. Just as long as everyone is safe. I care more about what happens to you guys than about growing another year older. To me that's just more time that we don't know anything, but more time that we're allowed to get better and stronger and stay focused on our well-being."

"And I'm saying that for your well-being we're going to celebrate your birthday," Cody insisted. "And you can't change my mind about it."

"I didn't think I would," Crystal said after a minute. She gave him a quick kiss before dropping her arms to her sides, sliding the rose into her pocket. "Thank you." She then eyed him warily. "And I don't care if you're afraid Zack is going to screw up our food but you're going to eat it anyway. You're too thin as it is."

Cody smiled at her sudden shift to her motherly tone. "I will," he promised. "But if I die I'm giving you all my stuff, Zack's not getting any of it."

"I'll keep that in mind." Crystal looked down at her watch and then back over towards the castle. As Cody watched her, her eyes shifted, irises changing into sits like that of a tiger's, as she took in the extra distance. "The others are going back in, looks like it's time for another practice."

Cody made a humming sound and the two started back towards the castle, holding tightly onto his hand. If they were to fight against their opposites, then he would be fighting against Zack. He and Zack hadn't fought in a long time, and even when they would practice they wouldn't come close to using even a quarter of their power. What would happen if they were to fight each other with all of their might, with everything they had, doing their best to take the other down. He didn't think he'd be able to handle it, even if it were for practice.

Still, he had to be prepared for it if they were to restore everything.

Cody and Crystal fell in step with their friends as they headed into the training room. Zack was pacing back and forth, seeming to have eth same fears that Cody had with their impending fight. However, that was until Mother Nature caught their attention.

"Cody and Patrick, would you please take place on the floor."


	33. Shadow on the wall

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

* * *

_August 1, 1992_

"Christian, come here, quick!"

Christian lifted the protective shield that rested in front of his face as he used his free hand to grab a cork and place it in the opening of the beaker that sat in front of him. Once he was sure the fumes weren't escaping, he pulled off his protective gear before hurrying up the stairs from the basement to the living room. He found his wife pacing the kitchen, a hand to her forehead. Crystal, now almost five months old, sat at her feet, chewing the leg of a stuffed tiger.

"What?" He asked as soon as he caught his breath. "Is something wrong?"

"She crawled!" Kristen exclaimed.

Christian stared at her for a long moment, tilting his head to the side. Finally, he found his voice and managed to get out the single syllable, "what?"

Kristen walked over to her husband and grasped onto his forearm before motioning to their daughter as she sat on the floor, looking up at her parents with wide eyes. She continued to gum on her tiger, each movement causing the bright blue bow placed in her hair to bob. "She crawled," Kristen continued. "For the first time, and you missed it."

"You're telling me that you screamed like a banshee in the middle of an experiment for me to get up here—nearly making me blow off my facial hair—just to tell me that she moved a few inches across the floor?" Christian regarded his wife with a raised eyebrow, doing his best not to laugh. "I knew you were baby crazy, Kris, but this is ridiculous, eh?"

Kristen whacked him on the arm and turned to say something to Crystal, watching as she moved quickly across the floor in a mixture of a crawl and a belly flop. "Look! Look!"

Christian looked down and watched as Crystal continued to move across the floor a few more inches before stopping and dropping the stuffed tiger from her mouth, cooing as she started to squeeze it repeatedly. "Wow, she's really flying." Scooping up his daughter, Christian turned Crystal towards her and she smiled a toothless smile at him before turning and gently rubbing his arm where Kristen had slapped him then smiled again, kicking her legs. "We're definitely going to have a hockey player on our hands."

"Over my dead body." Kristen stuck out her tongue as she walked over to the stove where a pot of water was boiling. "You're going to have to wait for your son for that."

"That's fine, just as long as it's sooner rather than later." Christian smiled and continued to bounce his daughter in his hands, then frowned as she suddenly stopped smiling and moving. She turned her head to the side and stared hard at a spot behind him, tiny eyebrows crinkling. "What? What's wrong Crystie?" Turning his head, Christian followed her gaze but saw nothing behind him but a shadow.

"What's wrong?"

Kristen started to turn towards her husband and daughter but jumped at the sound of hers and Christian's watches going off. It wasn't the same sort of beeping sound that would emanate if an hour had passed, no, this was a shrill warning that danger was eminent. Startled at the shrill peal, Crystal started to cry. Kristen hurried over and took Crystal from Christian's arms before heading towards the basement. Christian, on the other hand, went over towards the front closet, reaching into the back for a long, black hard case.

He had only just gotten it out and opened the latches when the sound stopped, bringing silence around the house.

Christian sighed, tilting his head back.

The danger was gone for now.

* * *

_August 4, 1992_

"I can't believe they're finally here," Kurt murmured as he looked down at the bassinets resting beside Carey's bed. Carey smiled over at him before her gaze turned to the baby boys that lay quietly, swaddled up in blankets, breathing softly. "It didn't seem real at all, not until now."

Carey started to sit up, but Kurt motioned for her to stay down. He went over to the bassinets and lifted the twin boys out of the carrier, gently bouncing them in his arms, and went back over to his wife. "I know. But we did it. We brought two beautiful baby boys into the world. Zack and Cody."

Zachary Thomas and Cody Mitchell. It was perfect except for one thing.

"I _still_ think we should've named one of them Kurt," He said, continuing to bounce them, watching as their lips slightly puckered every now and then.

"Just give me Cody, please."

Kurt paused, looking down at the babies that nestled in his arms, completely covered by the blankets that were swaddled around him. He looked back and forth from each tiny face and back to the other, slightly panicking. Who knew that babies actually looked the same when they were born, let alone twins. Even when he was watching them through the nursery window he couldn't tell them apart from all the other babies that had just been born, other than the blue beanies placed on their heads and the name cards at the foot of the bed. Besides, how was he sure they even had the right kids? Not only were there many reports of there being babies kidnapped from hospitals, but there were even more of babies being switched in the hospital and then going home with the wrong family.

Didn't anyone ever watch TV?

"Kurt." The man snapped out of his reverie and looked over at Carey, who stared expectantly at him, arms outstretched. "Please give me, Cody." Either it was her tiredness or sudden motherly instincts kicking in, but she had a hard edge to her tone. Kurt hoped that it was her tiredness, the woman had been in labor for almost twenty-hours, and he didn't blame her for being a bit…rough around the edges. However she did truly look beautiful to him, despite being covered in sweat and appearing she was going to bite off his head the moment she got the chance.

"Uhhh." Kurt shifted to the side under the guise of rocking his sons. "Which one's Cody?" Carey gave him a funny look as he looked down at his sons once more. "They look more alike than I thought they ever would. I mean, I knew they were twins but…"

"He's the one on the left."

"My left or your left?"

"The left bassinet!"

Kurt turned back towards the bassinets and mimed how he picked up the twin boys. He studied them for a minute then looked down at the babies in his arms. Sure he picked him up the way they were put down, Kurt turned back to Carey, gently handing over Cody. Being distanced from his brother, Zack made a low cooing sound and shifted around in his blankets, eyes opening slightly. Kurt smiled at Zack and gently leaned in, kissing his forehead.

"So what do you think?"

"That's I'm not letting you switch mix them up again," Carey remarked, causing Kurt to laugh. He sat down in a chair that was beside Carey's bed and gently bounced him. Looking over at Carey, he saw his young wife with her head tilted back, eyes closed, holding Cody close to her. "I don't care if we have to dress them up like girls, but that's not happening again."

"Don't you think it would be funny though?" Kurt grinned. "If when they grew up and did a test of some sort they found out they were the other one?"

"_No! _That would _not _be funny." Carey opened her eyes long enough to glare at her husband before smiling down at Cody once more. "They're going to grow up to be their own people. And they're going to be great at whatever they do. They have the world at their fingertips and they're destined for greatness." As the words escaped Carey's mouth she felt something come over her, not quite able to put her finger on it.

A sort of calm, maybe.

Feeling as if something had just draped itself over her shoulders to protect her.

Carey looked over at Kurt to see if he had felt it too, but he was murmuring to Zack about the things he was going to teach him; guitar, baseball, soccer, football, how they were going to learn how to restore a car. She smiled a little as she watched Kurt with their son, one of their sons. Things had been rocky between them as her due date had come closer and closer, outward pressure from their families and their own nerves about becoming parents managed to worry them more than they originally wanted to allow.

But now, now things were going to get better.

Carey only stayed in the hospital for a few more days before they were finally discharged and allowed to go home. Their home was as quiet as ever, the only visitors they allowed to come by the first day were their mothers; the women wanting to see their grandchildren as well as having their apartment set up for when the babies were to return home. Then they were on their own to get used to their new lives with the babies. Changing them, feeding them, waking up, not getting a lot sleep, enough time for them to differentiate the personalities between the boys despite them not being able to make sounds other than the initial cooing and cries that came about.

Zack, they could see, was truly the leader and watched out for his brother. He was always watching Cody and seeing what he was doing, being the first to start crying, maybe as a way to alert Carey and Kurt, whenever Cody started to make a face that he was upset. However, when he was on his own he appeared to be just as worrying, if not a bit fussy until he was back with Cody once again. Cody, on the other hand, appeared to be more sensitive, especially to the world around him. Whenever there was a loud sound or something didn't appear to be right, he would start to cry if not whimper until his mother or father picked him up and coddled him.

Despite that, the life of the family of four easily fell into their new routine. Carey had just put Zack and Cody to bed one night, getting some time to herself to read when she heard what she thought was one of them crying through the baby monitor. Kurt, who she knew was conked out on the couch probably wouldn't hear them through his own baby monitor, wasn't going to wake up in enough time to get to them. So Carey put down her book and walked over to the babies' room with a light yawn.

"Zack, Cody, don't worry—"the words stopped in Carey's throat as she caught sight of a shadowed figure leaning over the boys' crib. Zack and Cody were on their backs, looking up at the figure and gurgling quietly, not appearing to be afraid. The figure turned towards Carey and she sucked in a sharp breath. "You stay away from my boys!" She turned and braced herself against the doorway. "Kurt! Someone's in the house!"

She heard a crashing sound as Kurt scrambled to his feet and hurried towards her. "What?" he shouted back, stumbling over boxes and baby items that were strewn across the floor.

"Someone's in the house." Carey turned back to the room and gasped lightly when she saw that the shadowy figure was gone. Kurt placed a hand on Carey's shoulder before going into the room and leaning over the crib to check on Zack and Cody. The two continued to gurgle and coo at their father, but didn't otherwise appear hurt. "There was someone there."

"I don't see them now, honey." Kurt went over to Carey, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You're probably just tried. Why don't you go to sleep? I'll make sure the boys are okay, I'll stay in here and watch them."

Bringing a hand up to her forehead, Carey thought for a moment. _Had _she been imagining things? She couldn't be too sure. She knew she saw something there, putting her kids in danger. She could feel it in her bones. But how had it moved so quickly?

"Go get some rest," Kurt repeated. "I'll get you if there's something wrong. I promise."

Carey nodded and left the room, a hand still pressed to her forehead. It had to be that she was tired, seeing things, maybe post-partum or something. But still, it all felt so real. Her thoughts were encompassed by the sweet relief of sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

_September 16, 1992_

Renee smiled as she allowed Julius to climb up into her bed with her before turning the small bundles of joy in her arms towards him. Julius leaned into his sisters and stared at them for a moment, Reed standing off to the side with a video camera, taping the event, watched his son with a smile.

"Julius, these are your baby sisters," Renee said quietly, motioning to them. She first lifted the baby that was resting on her right arm towards him; her eyes were wide open as she watched the family around her. "This is Rhubella Skye,"—she then motioned to the other girl that yawned before a light smile came to her face—"and Rilandon Evangeline. Or Rhuben and Riley for short."

Julius's nose wrinkled as he sat back, staring hard at his mother. The expression on his face was that of a kid that just got candy stolen from him. "I thought they were boys," he said in his childish Australian accent.

"So did we, yeah?" Reed commented from the corner. He lowered the camera lightly. "The doctors were wrong, Jay. That's why we had the names picked out that way. Reuben for sure, and then Riley or Landon. So we just switched them around to fit the girls." He reached out and ruffled his two-year-old son's head. "But aren't you glad to have little sisters now? You always wanted someone to play with."

Julius thought for a moment then smiled widely. He reached out and gently patted the babies' heads then sat back and watched them as Renee continued to hold onto them tightly. He then frowned and leaned forward, gently patting his hands down the blankets that swaddled them. "What are you doing, honey?"

"These are their feet," Julius said, poking them, causing the babies to squirm in their blankets. Renee nodded and watched as Julius then moved to the area their hands would be and poked them. "This is their hands. Where are their weenies?"

Reed laughed loudly while Renee gave a tired sigh and tilted her head to the side, resting it on her son's. She made a mental note to talk to him about the differences between boys and girls later. Shortly after the conversation the nurses came back in the room to take the babies away for monitoring, though they'd be returned to her in the morning. What wasn't said to the Jackson family was that when they had been brought into the room where their height and weight were to be measured, the power in that room and nearby hospital rooms had gone out. They didn't know about the doctors and nurses frantically racing for the generators that would save the equipment and the patients they were looking after. They didn't know that as soon as the babies were taken away from the room that the power came back on.

It wasn't until months later, when Julius was three and the girls were about five months old that the couple realized their greatest fears. Renee had just finished dressed Julius for bed, sighing lightly when she spotted the familiar paw print shape in the middle of his chest—his mark, and had gone to help Reed give the girls a bath. She stepped into the kitchen and found her husband frowning at the twin girls as they sat in their high-chairs, playing with toys, loudly banging them against the plastic trays in front of them.

"I know I said I'd help you, Jack, but it's your turn to bathe them," Renee pointed out, playfully pushing him on the arm.

Reed lifted a finger before going over to Riley who was smiling widely, making loud cooing sounds, reaching for her parents, and lifting her up into his arms. He turned her around, bracing her against his shoulder, allowing Renee to get a good look at her. Riley kicked her legs back and forth, continuing to babble happily. "Look at Cherry's back."

Eyes widening at the black 'x' that took over the small girl's back, Renee looked over at Rhuben, who continued to drum her toy against the high-chair. "And?"

"And Grape has one too." Reed placed Riley back into the high-chair and turned to his wife, who chewed her lower lip. "What are we going to do?"

"The only thing we can do. Call up Grandpa Akito and tell him what's happening. And hope that it doesn't get worse from here." Renee gave her husband a kiss, trying to stay calm. At least as the calmer one of the two, she could already see form the way Reed's eyes flashed that he was beyond angry. "Now, please, give them their baths."

"You don't think things'll go aggro?"

"They haven't awakened yet...if they ever will."

* * *

_May 13, 1993_

Eunice Pickett screamed as she held onto her stomach. Leaning forward, she placed her hand against the dashboard before painfully turning to the side and sliding out of her seat until her feet reached the ground. Breathing as calmly as she could, trying to focus on anything but the pain, she walked around the broken down truck towards her husband in the darkened light.

The area around them was dark, clouds covering the moon. The road they were on stretched for miles with no signs of help coming anytime soon. "Clyde," she gasped. "I don't think I can hold on much longer."

"I don't know what else you want me to do, Eunice," Clyde Pickett replied to his wife, sounding just as exasperated, worried, and scared as she did. Illuminated by the flashlight that sat beside him on the edge of the tuck, he wiped his greasy hands off on his overalls. "I swear something jumped out in front of me in the middle of the road, but there's nothing there now. The truck doesn't even have any damage on it; I can't tell what's wrong with the blasted thing."

"The baby's coming," Eunice pointed out. She sucked in another loud gasp of air before screaming again, her hands holding tightly onto her stomach as another contraction hit. This time it was much closer than her last one. "Our little Bailey's going to be here before we can get to the hospital. It'll be the seventh time, Clyde. I don't want to make a record!"

"I know, honey. I'm trying."

Eunice looked forlornly at her husband and watched as he continued to try, in vain, to get the truck running once more. All of a sudden the flashlight went out, causing Clyde to let out a loud curse and kicked the side of the truck, causing the hood of the truck to slam shut. He then banged his hands along the top.

"Clyde?"

"These batteries shouldn't be running out, I just changed them this morning god dang it!"

He continued to slap his hands on the hood of the truck, scaring Eunice. She had never seen her husband this upset before. She took a few steps back, watching as he continued to thrash around, now appearing that he was fighting himself more than he was angry at their broken down vehicle. He continued to thrash around and around, letting out inhuman growls. Then, finally, he fell still, breathing deeply. The flashlight suddenly illuminated once more, the shadows that covered the moon disappearing.

Eunice looked up towards the sky before going back to her husband, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Clyde, are you okay?" He looked over at his wife before glancing over his shoulder and around the deserted road that stretched out on both sides. "Clyde?"

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

Clyde looked around once more then shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing, honey." He put his hands on Eunice's cheeks. "Let's get to the hospital and have this baby."

…

..

.

Uriel grimaced as the past memories floated through his head. All of the times he had been a shadow on the wall, where he would've had the perfect time to stop the prophecy before it happened. He had even gone so far to try and eliminate them all at one and they still, somehow, managed to squeeze through the cracks. This time, however, was going better than he had ever planned.

They were in the Element World and he had free reign over their world. And once they came back they would realize why he was the one that had managed to stay standing against Mother Nature's and Father's Time banishment and the ultimate sort of power he held.

But for the moment, he had to get rid of all of the Elementals of the Earth.

* * *

**A/N: **I originally intended to have this chapter be Cody's and Patrick's fight, but then the idea for this one came around and I absolutely HAD to do it. So their fight will be in the next one.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	34. Zapping Fish (2)

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

* * *

Patrick cracked his knuckles before rolling his wrists, loosening them up. He glanced across the room at Cody, frowning before turning his attention up to Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca, who all stared back at him. He had thought they were supposed to go against those that they were the weakest against; which made sense for Tapeworm and Sydney as Tapeworm held the element of Earth and Sydney had the element of spirits that gave him many advantages and disadvantages in its own merit.

But he thought he would've been going against Noah if anything, simply because their elements were of the same merit, weather related and had their own strengths and weaknesses against each other. Sure, water and electricity gave a bit of an advantage on his own right, but that wasn't what worried him. What filled his mind was the wonderings of what Mother Nature was truly after. If she had been watching Earth for so long, she could've easily watched as they sparred with each other, practiced to see what levels their abilities were at.

And yet, she sat calmly in her seat, legs crossed at the knee, hands resting in her lap with an air of regal that was palpable around the room. Due to his love of history, he knew on Earth much of the dynasties and rulings that went along were where the King was the highest in order, it appeared to be the other way around when in the Element World.

"Please get started when you're ready," Mother Nature called.

Patrick nodded and looked back at Cody, starting to bounce back and forth on the balls of his feet as he let out repetitive long breaths. It was a way to get him centered and focused. Because while he stood across from Cody, who appeared ill at ease, he didn't see one of his close friends and confidants. No, instead he saw Uriel and envisioned what he wanted to do to the Elemental of Life when he managed to get his hands on him. That was what he was fighting for at the moment, all of the time he had spent to get stronger and better, was all to be able to kill Uriel. Ever since finding out that they had been murdered rather than died in an accident, he had wanted nothing more than to find out who had done it.

Now that he knew…

Patrick was knocked out his thoughts by a wave of hard water hitting him in the chest. He was knocked off his feet and crashed against the ground. At first he was a bit annoyed that his spikes, that meticulous took at least an hour of time to style in the morning, had fallen down into his face, then after a quick shake of his head knocking his dripping fringe back, he set his eyes back on Cody and watched as he rapidly approached Patrick with jet propulsion.

There were many things that Patrick had a jokingly egotistical point of view with, but he considered himself to be a very strong fighter, choosing to think with his fists rather than an actual strategy, and wasn't going to go down that easily.

"Nice try," he murmured under his breath before pressing his palms together. He started to rub them together as quickly as he could when Cody continued to fly towards him. He continued to rub as hard as he could, and when Cody was almost directly in front of him, he rolled out of the way.

"Whoa!" Cody dropped his hands and the water stopped him, seconds from crashing face first into the wall behind him.

Patrick rolled onto his knee and sprang back towards the blond elemental. As he flashed by, he held out a hand and slapped it against Cody's back. "Static Shock!" It worked exactly as he had expected it to. The friction of him rubbing his hands together at the heightened pace increased the voltage and heat of the electrical power he had been storing up and conducted against the water elemental nicely.

Cody let out a cry of pain as he was blasted to the side and landed hard on the ground. He flipped himself back to his feet and rolled his neck. His eyes shifted around Patrick to the area directly above, below, and to the sides of him.

_You have to be less obvious than that, _Patrick though before sprinting towards Cody. The older teen reacted quickly and leapt overhead before spinning around and striking Patrick in the back with a swift kick. When the thunder elemental turned around, he received a punch to the face. _Spoke too soon._

"Something as simple as that, you should've seen it coming," Cody commented as he allowed Patrick to at least get back to his feet. "That was just a mere moment of studying the area around you." He took a step back as Patrick slowly grinned.

He brought his hands back and rapidly thrust them forward over and over again, sending out bolts of electricity. Cody rolled leaned backwards out of the way before continuously moving from side to side as Patrick continued to send bolts of electricity at him, advancing with each step. When Patrick got close enough, he shifted his body weight onto the balls of his feet and lashed out in quick high and low kicks and punches that revealed his strength in kickboxing training. And proved just how much he had improved over the years.

Cody reacted quickly, despite receiving critical and hard blows from the electric elemental. One he got a small reprieve from his opponent, when Patrick had to spin back around to lower his foot to the ground; Cody took in a deep breath, allowing his tai-chi training to take over. That gave him the chance to be a bit stronger than he had been before, enough so that he fended off Patrick's attacks pretty well, despite having had been blindsided by the original attack.

"And I thought the fight between Tapeworm and Syd was bad," Zack murmured, mouth covered by his hands. "I mean, I don't want to go against him, honestly, but it's still kind of hard to watch."

"Why?" Tapeworm looked over at him. "Because of Patrick's advantage with his power set?"

"No, because if Cody has the power of the element stone, he's obviously holding back."

"You're forgetting one thing though, Zack," Rhuben said from his other side. She had a small smile on her face and when she turned her head to face the fire elemental, it widened. "That we taught you everything you know when it came to awakening. But not everything we know."

_You got that right. _Patrick sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating not he power inside him. It continued to grow in strength and size until he was bathed in a warm yellow glow. Opening his eyes, he found that Cody was bathed in the same amount of light, though his was a more brilliant blue, taking on the power of the Element stone still in his possession. "Cursed Dragon!"

Patrick's scythe appeared in his hands and he held it high over his head as he raced towards Cody. /_Master Patrick, don't do this_/.

_I have to strike him first, or else his use of the Element Stone will be too great, _Patrick replied. He leapt high into the air, bringing his scythe even further above him. "Lightning Storm!" With an arcing sweep of his scythe, bolts of electricity shot through the air in rapid succession over towards Cody. He then turned his scythe around and cut back the other way, this time as he completed his arc, falling back to the ground, he slammed the side of it onto the dusty floor. The force of the slam emitted a loud sound wave that raced towards Cody as well. "Thunder Blitz!"

He then followed it up by tapping into the power of the dragon she shared with ThunderTatsu and sprouted wings from his back, claws for hands, and his canines elongated. He let out a loud roar that shook the building before launching straight up into the air. He flipped backward as his wings did a powerful stroke downwards, sending energy Cody's way. "Golden Wing Strike!"

Attack after attack blew towards Cody, using every ounce of strength Patrick could muster. And yet, each attack bounced off of Cody and the water bubble he had formed around himself. And the lightning elemental continued to scream with effort with each attack he sent out, until the yellow glow around him started to dark on a darker color, slowly sliding into a black hue.

Finally, Cody's eyes snapped open, revealing the completed power he had taken in from the element stone. The bubble popped around him sending bolts of hard water towards Patrick. The jets of water crashed into Patrick and caused him to jerk back every now and then, but he continued to launch attacks—though weaker—at Cody at a faster succession.

"Water of the Soul!" Cody held out his hands and his staff appeared. After having taken on the Element stone the water capsule at the top of his staff had changed. It held his element mark in gold on the face while the insides swirled with differing hues of blue. "Water Release! Hydro Launcher! Leviathan!"

Erupting from the gem atop Cody's staff, a looming wave of water launched towards Patrick, followed by an energy blast. The blast crashed into the electric elemental and knocked him into the wall behind him. And the water kept going and going and going, continuing to strike against Patrick.

He held his breath as long as he could. Due to being a surfing enthusiast he could hold it much longer than normal people, being able to stay underwater for up to four minutes at the most, but this was different. This wasn't just a water attack, it was a fraction of the energy coming from the element stone and that was nothing he had ever gone against before.

He couldn't handle it.

The added energy from the stone was too overwhelming and he knew he couldn't handle it. Cody lowered his staff and his eyes faded back to the normal color, allowing Patrick to drop to the floor, head dropping.

"Alright!" Mother Nature called. "It's finished."

Cody immediately waved away his staff and hurried over to Patrick. As the Australian teen looked up towards his friend, he could see the flash of amazement in his eyes. Despite having just lost, Patrick managed his famous lopsided smile up towards the blond, one that was genuine.

"Man, if I knew that the Element Stones were going to give us that much power, I wouldn't have given mine to you, yeah?" He said with a light laugh.

Cody chuckled and reached out, grabbing onto his hand, pulling him to his feet in one hard tug. "I'm glad you think so. Because that stuff is scary." He looked over his shoulder at his friends as they got up from their places and the Jacksons hurried over to their brother. "You put up a great fight, though."

Now Cody's smile faded as he looked over the Australian teen. His friendly demeanor was something he had noticed about the boy as soon as they met. Now it was gone, covered by an intense frown that seemed to be coming from deep within him.

"No, I didn't," he murmured seconds before Riley careened into his side, giving him a hug.

"Pat, are you okay?" She asked him, eyes filled with anxiety.

Cody shot her an annoyed look. "Well, geez, Riles, I'm not exactly a picture of perfection over here," he remarked sarcastically, causing her to roll her eyes as well. Still, he couldn't help but notice that when she turned back to her brother she appeared afraid, more so than usual. Glancing over at Rhuben, Noah, an Sydney, he saw they had similar expressions on their faces as well. Maybe there was something he missed.

"No one cares about you Cody," Zack replied, slapping his brother on the shoulder with a teasing smile. "Are you just figuring that out?" Cody flashed him the middle finger in response.

"No." Patrick took a deep breath, turning back to Cody. "Because this wasn't just a fight against you and me."

"What do you mean, Pat?" Maddie asked him. She exchanged a glance with Julius before going to the electric elemental's side and looking over his skin for any cuts or bruises she needed to heal. "This was just practice."

"Exactly!" He snapped. "What happens when we come up against the real thing? Against Uriel? If the powers of the Element Stone in Zack and Cody couldn't defeat Mother, what makes you think it would defeat him. If I couldn't put up a better fight against Cody in this, what makes you think any of the rest of us will be able to stand up against him when the time comes?"

Crystal cocked her head to the side and let out a quiet breath as she regarded her cousin. "That's what the point of this is."

"Is it? Really?" He let out a loud bark of laughter. "See, because I thought all of this was being done for Mother Nature to see how well we fight. If this is an indicator of anything, none of us are ready to face him and that's a bloody harsh reality we're going to have to face. Thing are going to get really aggro. And if we don't come to terms with that, we're all going to die sooner than we think."

There was a long moment of silence that followed his words, causing Patrick shake his head lightly.

They didn't get it. None of them did. He always had a smile on his face that gave him friends quicker than anyone could imagine. All he wanted out of life was truly to be happy and through that wish he had managed to find a way to smile and see the bright side of life through everything he had gone through. However, that didn't mean there weren't times where he found himself thinking realistically and allowed himself to think of the things that drove him forward. His mother and father.

He wanted Uriel dead. Even worse than dead, completely obliterated. Disintegrated. Anything that will cease his existence of being. It was the worst he had ever felt about anything in his life.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," he said.

Noah raised an eyebrow as he turned towards Crystal and gave a half smile. "Great way to start you birthday, eh, Crys?" Crystal gave him a warning look and he ducked his head, his smile widening ever so slightly. "Kidding."

"I bet you were."

Patrick lifted his head, his bright smile back on his face. "If that fight was hard, I can't wait to see what the other ones are like." That's what he said, but what he was thinking was _What's the outcome of all of these fights? What does Mother Nature want? _And more importantly. _How much longer can we stay here?_

* * *

**A/N: **If my planning works out well, Chapter 40 will start out the rest of the story. I don't have an idea of what the ending chapter goal will be, just that the story will end when the story ends. As I had said on twitter I had come up with an idea for one last story after this one, though I haven't ultimately decided if I'll do that.

Otherwise, you may have thought that Patrick was defeated too easily, but it was means to show the power of those that holds the Element Stone compared to those that don't. I haven't been able to do a longish chapter for this story in a while, but I getting back in the swing of things, especially as this story moves at a moderately fast pace.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	35. It's all very simple really

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

* * *

Diamond ducked down behind a car as an explosion behind him sent a wave of warmth across the area. Lowering his head even further he closed his eyes against the flurry of glittering shards of glass that went flying across the area. Once the tinkling sound of the pieces of glass hitting the ground ceased, he lifted his automatic rifle over his shoulder and fired back towards the Elementals that raced towards him. As each bullet crashed through the intended target—the middle of the forehead—and the bodies dropped like stones, there was only a tiny hint of feeling that flashed through his stomach.

But not so much that it would stop him from what he was doing. He had to keep them as far away as possible and as it was, once they were taken by Uriel, they weren't people anymore. They weren't humans that had souls, lives, and memories; not when their lives got taken over by the being that held the power of the element of life in general.

Continuing to fire towards the wave of humans that rushed his way, Diamond backed down the street before reaching into his vest and grabbing a canister tucked inside a pocket. He pulled it out and grabbed the tab in his teeth before jerking his head back, ripping it out. Turning his head to the side, Diamond spit the tab out of his mouth and onto the ground, then threw the canister as hard as he could. As it arced through the air, he turned around and ran as fast as he could. There was a bright flash of light and a loud bang that released a bright, mustard yellow smoke through the area, carried on by the wind.

As Diamond sprinted down the deserted streets, he unhooked the mast that sat hooked to his belt and slid it over his face. The smoke filled the area in a matter of seconds, darkening his vision to only a few feet in front of him. But he continued to run through the dilapidated buildings, burned out cars, and eerily quiet street with little to no difficulty. He leapt over cars, slid down the face of those that came in his way, and continued to run until he reached the forested area that blocked off the compound from the city.

Slipping inside, he pulled off his mask and wiped grime and sweat off his forehead, navigating his way through the winding hallways until he reached the spacious room that sat far below the Earth as the temperature change in the air around him immediately alerted him to. He only paused as there was a low sound of another explosion from above, and then continued on his path towards Christian and Core as they stood around what looked like a hard casing, both wearing protective goggles and holding onto welders connected to welding power supplies.

They only looked up once Diamond placed his rifle safety on and placed it on the metal table beside him. Core turned off the flame on his machinery and pushed his goggles up off his forehead, his hair sticking up into the air.

"Is there anything we should know?" He asked.

"They keep coming in droves," Diamond explained. "Whatever it is that Uriel is trying to do, if he's trying to find as many Elementals as he can, he's working hard." His arm muscles bulged as he crossed his arms. "Not only that, but he's using a lot of innocent life for his bidding. Just as we had already expected."

"Is it getting worse?" Christian shouted as he continued to lean over a piece of metal and electronics that sat in front of him, continuing to weld.

"He's moving a lot faster than we originally though he would," Diamond explained. "I don't know how much longer this can be held off. Or, if we can bounce back from it. There's so much chaos and destruction out there I don't know if the city or the world can recover from it."

"That's to be expected."

Diamond nodded and waved smoke away from his face as Christian lowered his solder and lowered his goggles around his neck. Once the smoke cleared, he looked over the contraption that sat in front of the three men. Having a lot of military experience he recognized numerous weapons, explosives, and top secret paraphernalia that not even those with the wildest imagination could ever come up with. And yet, he wasn't sure what he was currently looking at, knowing it as nothing other than Project A.T.O.M.

"Uriel's power of life is something that the others have never come into contact with before," Christian continued, reaching over and picking up a water bottle. He took a long swig, using it as a moment to think. "And with the kids in the Element world—"

"Are you sure that's where they are?" Diamond interrupted.

"Positive." Core nodded and went over to a computer that sat nearby and fell down into the chair. He pulled up what looked like a map of the world, but there was a light green grid covering the face with dots scattered around it. "This is a preliminary program that I created to be able to see into the other worlds, monitor elemental activity on Earth, and to track Zack, Cody and the others. As can be seen on this map, they're not actually on Earth but are in the Element World which, as some have guessed, is probably somewhere in a dimension above Earth."

Diamond tilted his head to the side as he tried to imagine it. Maybe it was to be a heaven of some sorts. It sounded very much like an ethereal place, a utopia where every fantasy could come true. But as far as he knew from having been around Christian and Core for as long as their last confrontation with Mother Nature had commenced, nothing he knew about life was as he had thought. The military man received more insight about the world through the world with Elementals than what was engrained in his head while deployed. The tough as nails exterior he originally had, melted away as he had grown to get to know everything he had been kept in the dark about.

When he had been given orders to capture the blond twins and their friends, he had immediately gone along to do as he was told. He was to capture those that posed a threat towards humanity and their livelihoods then had a harsh reality check when he was told what to do once they were captured. Despite having had a lot of his old self knocked out of him throughout his training, there were still things he couldn't wrap his head round. Such as putting kids in danger.

The only time he had ever hesitated on his orders was when he was ordered to hoot a child that may or may not have posed a threat to him and his company via the use of a hidden bomb. Once that order came, he froze, starting at the little kid that slowly walked his way with a little smile on its face. Someone else had taken care of the job for him, and yet, knowing that he froze was never going to leave his mind amongst the other horrors he had experienced while enlisted.

"As it is, it's only a matter of time until Uriel either manages to capture everyone, or the kids come back and defeat him," Core continued. "And when they do come back,"—Diamond noticed that Core automatically used the term that would dictated their return—"I believe they'll have the knowledge to take him down. They've managed to do it before; I don't doubt they're going to be able to do it now."

"So what's this?" Diamond nodded towards the contraption that was being created.

"This is the backup plan that'll give them the upper hand in defeating Uriel. It's something we—Reed, Kristin, Renee, and ourselves—had started to create before they passed. We were very aware, over the years, that there was a chance for something like this to happen and we wanted to be prepared just in case something like this ever came around. Needless to say it came too late."

Core cleared his throat, walking around the table and motioned to the mound that sat in the middle of the table. "This is project A.T.O.M. The Anima Technological Ordinate Molotov."

"Molotov?" Diamond's eyebrows furrowed together. "You mean—"

"A bomb, eh," Christian clarified. "If assembled correctly, as well as being unsure if it'll work, this bomb has the capability of reducing Uriel's power to that of nearly nothing so that Zack, Cody, and the others have the opportunity to gain the upper hand on Uriel and subdue him." He bobbed his head back and forth. "However, the only problem is that if they're in the vicinity when this bomb goes off, they'll fall under the same fate and it has a blast radius of over two-hundred feet."

"How are you going to test it?"

"That's the million dollar question."

* * *

Surrounded by nothing but darkness, Carey was disoriented when she woke up. The last thing she remembered was she; Kurt, Esteban, London, and Mr. Moseby were separated and interrogated by Uriel and those that were working underneath him. She remembered there being a sort of blast of light and then nothing. She didn't remember anything after that.

As a matter of fact, she wasn't exactly sure where she was. She could feel a comfortable bed beneath her, but remembered where they had been before was not as comfortable or relaxing as she was in that moment. She didn't feel anxious or have an overwhelming sense of mother's intuition that allowed her to relax. There was nothing around that was going to hurt her. She felt at east.

All of a sudden something cold and wet moved against her cheek and she lurched backwards, eyes fling open to find a fox sitting by her bedside. Eyes wide, she stared at the fox as it sat back on its heels tilting its head to the side, silvery eyes shining. Then, it turned on its heel and walked out of the room, gently nudging it open with its muzzle. Sitting up, Carey ran her hands across her forehead and watched looked around the room. It wasn't the Tipton, she could see that. It wasn't any house she had ever been in, before.

Pulling back the covers on the bed, Carey swung herself out of bed and walked slowly towards the doorway of her room. She could hear voices coming from one of the room down the hall, recognizing it as London, who seemed to be criticizing everything around her. Despite the circumstances, Carey managed to give a little smile, knowing that everything had to be okay if London was acting like London. She had been very brave when she was taken by the soldiers in Boston, and while Carey believed the young woman could be strong when needed, she wasn't equipped to deal with everything they had seen. As they had been held captive in Boston, she, Kurt, and Mr. Moseby tried to hold back their emotions as much as they could, so they wouldn't scare her or Esteban.

But now…

"And all of this bamboo and stuff is pretty, but there's so much more you can do. Brighter colors. All of this muted stuff makes it look like you live in a hut." There was a brief pause and Carey heard London say with an air of disdain, "Which this isn't far from."

Carey could hear Mr. Moseby start to say something, then let out a heaving sigh, shaking his head. She turned the corner and stepped into the open and spacious living room to find her friends all kneeling on the floor around a table with mugs steaming tea in front of them.

"Oh good, you're awake." The voice sounded behind her and Carey watched as a Japanese man walked by her, holding his weight on a cane, the fox walking a few paces behind him. "I sensed you would be. The others have gotten up at nearly the same time. It took a while to get that sleeping spell off of you, but I figured you would need it after what Uriel took out of you guys, trying to break into your power."

"Power?" Carey repeated.

Kurt spoke up, waving her over. Carey went over to the empty space at the table and sat down as the man picked up the teapot that sat nearby and poured some sweet smelling tea into her glass. "This is Akito, he's the one that brought us here…with some of the...same sort of thing that Zack and Cody are able to do."

"Not quite" Akito gently shook his head. "My powers don't resonate as well as they used to, I focus more on my spirituality now more than anything else. Though to be precise it was a mixture of the light that surrounds us as well as my spirits. It took a lot to get you here, but you are all safe. Eos made sure of that." He nodded over towards the fox that leapt over to the area by the head of the table and curled up on the floor, closing its eyes. "It took a lot, but I managed to rival Uriel's powers enough to get you here. I believe he may need time to rest." He motioned to Carey. "Please, sit down."

Doing as she was told, Carey sat on the floor, crossing her legs. "Do you know what's happened with Zack and Cody? Are they okay?"

"I haven't sensed anything wrong with them at the moment, so I would believe it's safe to say that they're alright." Akito moved to rest his cane against the wall and made the slow, painstaking process of sinking to the floor so that he could sit with them. "They're in another world that will make sure they're ready for the time they'll come back to Earth. We can only hope they make their safe return to Boston, soon."

"Excuse me." Mr. Moseby raised a hand, sounding more like his normal self. Carey smiled, able to picture him behind his little desk in the lobby of the Tipton hotel. Whatever it was that Akito had done for them, he really did give them peace of mind. "How'd you know where to find us?" Mr. Moseby asked. His eyebrows lowered as he watched the older man circle the table and sit down at the head. "How did you know we were in trouble?"

"It's all very simple really," Akito replied. "My granddaughters told me."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm trying to get out longer chapters, but I feel like these somewhat short ones are moving the pacing along, so I guess it's a bit of a toss-up.

So you know how I was saying that I had an idea for a fourth story in this series? I also recently got an idea for a fifth story, though the fifth story could very easily stand on its own. Not to mention potentially re-writing the 'Home' series so that everyone can see how the Elementals stuff started again.

And not to mention some other ideas that are like _Did You Runaway, Did you Fall Apart, Save Me From Myself, Help Me Save Me, _and the upcoming _Intuition._

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	36. It was time for them to go back to Earth

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

* * *

Celebrating a birthday in the Element world was one of the last things anyone thought they would be doing. But still, Julius took the clothes that had been given to him by the servants of Mother Nature and Father Time and dressed in them before the big dinner that was going to be held for Crystal. True to her modest nature, his only female cousin didn't want to have much of a fuss made over her. Though her mind was somewhat easily changed once Mother Nature pointed out that they all deserved to have some time to rest and happiness to take their minds off of what they were working towards.

They were always working towards something, Julius noted. It seemed like there wasn't going to be a time where they were able to honestly have a break and not worry about the next danger that was moments away from turning the corner. This time, however, the danger was destroying their home and they were getting the training they needed in a world they hadn't thought existed. Back when Zack, Cody, Max, and Tapeworm had first awakened, it had been easier for them to work with the fights that had come their way as Core and WingzCorp were doing their best to capture them.

Now they were destined to save the world—again—and had no idea where to start or how to get back to Earth to be able to help.

"I feel there's something troubling you," Mother Nature said as she glided into the room, the drapes of her gown flowing behind her. "Is there anything I can help you with? It has come to my attention that Father Time has given you the Oracle Element for your personal use. Does it have to do with that? Is that is what's on your mind?"

Julius nodded then turned to her, the bottom of his cloak dusting against the ground. "I'm aware that the possibility of using the Oracle Element is by taking a portion of Uriel's powers and manifesting them into the stone, yeah?" Mother Nature slowly nodded, her hands resting behind her back. "And that it has the potential to bring back those that we had lost before."

"Yes, child, that is correct."

"But Sydney and Aaron have mentioned that it's possible to defeat Uriel is by going back in time to when Zack and Cody awakened. Is it possible to time travel with the Oracle Element and not only that, but would it cause the present to go aggro?"

"All good questions." Mother Nature thought for a moment then crossed the spacious bedroom to the large bay windows that looked over the spacious grounds. "However, they aren't ones that I can easily answer as some of them are what Father Time can only answer for you. Even then, while he resides over time, he may not have the answers you'd be looking for. The Oracle Element is something that has the ability to do a lot, but is also something that has limited use so I hope you use it for the right reasons."

Julius chewed his lower lip, going over to stand beside Mother Nature. He looked down over the grounds, where some of the servants were putting together the last bits of decorations for the festivities. "If it were possible to bring back those we've lost with the Oracle Element, what will that do to the present? Or the past I believe I should be asking. Would those that return know they were dead? Would the Earth have to reset itself due to the change of those that had been gone for so long?"

"All good questions, child," Mother Nature said. She turned away from the window and faced the eldest of the Elementals. "You and the others have been through a lot as the warriors in this long winded battle. It's good to see that you're all starting to resemble civilians again, it appears that the food of our world have done a great deal to help you as I'm sure tonight's festivities will do the same." She looked hard into Julius's eyes. "And while I can't say what will happen in the future, I believe you all shall make the best decision to end this senseless war and to return the Earth and the Element World back to its original state. No matter what the consequences of your decisions, it'll be something you all shall be proud to have done."

Rolling his eyes, the elemental turned away from the woman that presided over the Element World and raised his hands to his forehead. He was starting to get a headache, the same sort of headache he normally received when he had all of his siblings running and yelling, trying to his get his attention. Not that he didn't find their need for his approval to be annoying by any means, but that it was a lot to take in. Always getting vague answers to their constant questions was something he could live without at the moment. Especially when the lives of those he loved hung in the balance. Or, purgatory as the case may be, as he wasn't sure whether or not the choice for their potential resurrections would come to fruition.

"I understand that this is hard, child, but it is not something you should be worrying yourself with at the moment, this is a time for celebration, something you all deserve." Mother Nature placed her hand on Julius's shoulder and he felt an immediate sense of calm, much like one that a mother's presence near her child would bring. "However, when you're ready to tell me your decision with the Oracle Element…"

Slow, Julius turned around, eyebrows furrowing together as he thought about it. The Oracle Element had been what the Element Stone had been carved out of. They were the items that they had been searching for nearly as long as they had been in Boston, knowing it was something that would help them fend off WingzCorp. But it wasn't until Uriel's existence came about—even before they knew it was Uriel—that they finally managed to get their hands on it. It was used to fight against Mother Time and while it had been successful against her, the power of most of the stones had been combined into the stones that powered Zack's and Cody's, which, in turn, were then placed upon their Sword and Staff. Which Cody had used when in the fight with Patrick.

_Now I get it._

"These fights we were doing against each other, it was to see that we were truly the ones to save the world wasn't it?" Julius asked. Mother Nature nodded silently. "The prophecy truly could've been referring to anyone, but you wanted to make sure that it wasn't a bunch of boofheads that stumbled upon a new world no one ever thought had existed. If that were the case, were the match-ups that you created really going to put us against our strongest opponents?"

"I'm sure you've already figured it out, child, but the Ice bearer was indeed to have battled the Water bearer. Just as the thunder-bearer should have gone against the wind-bearer and the spirit bearer should've been your opponent. I'm sure you have the ability to figure out the rest of the match-ups."

Julius thought for a moment, moving through all of the potential match-ups that the group could've gone through. They rarely ever had to fight each other and when the time came, they never used all of their strength to do so. "Zack and Riley…Bailey and Rhuben…Tapeworm and Reihu…" he guessed, receiving a nod from Mother Nature in response. "I understand…not only are you testing our limitations, but you…testing our humility, our morality…our greatest fears."

"And just like everything else in life, there are some things that make it that what we believe will happen shan't happen, that not everything turns out the way we expected or hoped them to. However, there are some things I don't expect you to understand, such as the decision to bring you here was out of my hands. It was not something any of us could control. It was the essence of the Element World that brought you here and it'll be the essence of Earth that'll call you back."

"What if the World is destroyed by then?"

"One thing you have to trust in is that each of our Worlds is alive and they have a presence. Earth will call you back when it needs your help." She turned at the sound of the door to the bed chamber opening once more and gave a smile towards the servant that entered the room. He smiled back before bowing towards her.

"Your highness, everything has been set up and the festivities are about to start," he said. "Shall I call for warriors to come into their places around the kingdom? We can never be sure when those under Uriel's control will come back to attack."

"That won't be necessary, Tama, there have been barriers placed for the occasion." Mother Nature went over to the servant, holding up her hands. "Please, you and the others take the night off. We have everything under control. Thank you for your time."

"You're welcome, your highness. Please enjoy your party." Tama bowed to Mother Nature and Julius before leaving the room. Julius let out a light sigh, shifting his attention towards the way things worked in the Element World. Most of it was in harmony and everyone knew what they were doing when they were to be doing it. And it appeared that those that had the power—Mother Nature and Father Time—treated everyone within their kingdom with the utmost respect.

There was a brief moment of silence between Mother Nature and Julius.

"I know that you have a lot of worries about what is going on," Mother Nature finally said. "I can see that all you want is for you and your family to be happy. I believe you all will make the best choice for you when it comes to what you want in life. I know that you all are the ones that will save both of our worlds."

_Now if only we knew how to do that. _Julius nodded back to her then left the bed chamber and went down to the grounds as the night sky began to fall. It was as royal of a party as he had ever seen and it was for them. He could see Mother Nature was trying really hard to have them feel welcome to the new world and he did. _If it were possible to come back, I'm sure we would be here a lot. If only it was for good reasons, a vacation maybe._

A light smile came across Julius's face as he watched Maddie come across the grass towards him, the draping of her gown dragged across the grass as she did so, the jewels placed along the neckline glimmering with her movements. "Hey," he greeted her, holding out an arm. "You look great." Maddie beamed and moved into his arms, giving him a hug then rewarded him with a kiss.

"Thanks, you look great, too," she remarked then turned to the side, motioning to the festivities. "Can you believe they go this far out for a birthday? It makes me wonder what would happen when a new baby is born."

"They probably get the most attention a baby has ever gotten before," Maddie remarked. "But for one of us?"

"It's not every day that you turn nineteen years old," Julius remarked. He let out a light sigh. "Or twenty-one for that matter. If I live that long." Maddie made a humphing sound and grabbed onto his arm, dragging him across the grass and over to the long table filled with food. The rest of their friends and their guardians were already sitting around the table, filling up their plates with food. "I'm just telling the truth."

"Yes, well, it's not a truth that I want to think about right now," Maddie pointed out. "Right now I'm imagining this place as the Tipton Hotel and Mr. Moseby has made all of these plans for some sort of a massive wedding that's going to be put on." She lowered her head, letting out a low sigh. "And Zack and Cody are running around, trying to take a picture of the million dollar kiss. Things were so easy back then."

"You mean before you met me?" Julius gave a half-smile, receiving an elbow to the side. "Maddie, what if I told you that it might be possible to go back to that time?" He stopped walking and he turned her to face him. "You know that stone that Father Time gave to us? It's called the Oracle Element and there's a possibility that with that, we'll be able to travel back in time to when Zack and Cody first awakened."

"Why would we do that?" Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. "It'd just start this mess all over again."

"Not unless going there gives us a clue as to what it is that will help us defeat Uriel." Julius held up a hand. "I'm not saying it's possible. But think about it, what if we could use the stone to go back to that time to defeat Uriel…and also use it to bring back everyone that we've lost along the way?"

Maddie thought about it for a moment, tilting her head to the side as she did so. She was silent just as long as he had been when he first thought of the possibilities of the Oracle Element and the Book of Esme. There were just too many things for them to be able to do, so many good things they would be able to achieve. But what would happen if they weren't able to fix everything before its power ran out? What if they managed to change something that current existence to change? Would he have moved to Boston at all?

_And this is the same reason I hate when they introduce time travel to sci-fi, it just makes things way too confusing. _Julius shook his head, the headache coming up once more. _I really have to stop thinking about this._

Maddie seemed to have read his mind for she reached out and took his hand. "Let's not worry about it now," she said to him. "Let's actually have some fun for once." The two went over to the table and took the last places open on the table. In a flash of bright blue light, Rudin appeared in Julius's lap, ready to partake in the feat that sat in front of him. Looking around the table, Julius took in the smiling faces of his friends and the slightly embarrassed one of Crystal's as she sat at the head of the table.

If only for the moment, they were all happy to be celebrating something, something that gave them a chance of normalcy in their otherwise fast-paced life. But he truly knew nothing was going to be normal until he got his parents back.

And he was going to make sure it happened.

* * *

Rhuben let out a light groan, closing her eyes as she brought a hand from Reihu's shoulder up to her forehead. Her forehead continued to stab with pain as the seconds passed. Frowning, Reihu stopped their slow, circular movement to the light music that played along the grounds, and looked down at his girlfriend.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"No." She closed her eyes even tighter as the pain continued to increase. "Something's wrong." Another groan escaped her lips as she felt the familiar sense of pressure push down on her at all sides. As the pressure increased, she opened her eyes and looked in front of her, watching as everything faded away in front of her. The lights around her started to dim until she was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

Twisting back and forth, she looked around to find a source of light, something that would give her an idea of where to go. Normally even a tiny fragment of light would be around when she was taken over by the darkness, when it was trying to show her something, when it was trying to take over. This time around, she could tell it she wasn't losing hold of her powers. Something about being in the Element World had made it so that she didn't have to focus so much on using most of her powers to concentrate on keeping them at bay. There was something about the energy around the Element Kingdom that kept her from losing control.

Something about being where all of the Elements originated from made things easier. Being around darkness was never easy and was a constant battle. It had gotten easier over the years, having worked hard since she had awakened to hold it down. She had thought Gattaca's presence nearby would have done something that would cause her to lose control. But she continued to be as calm as in the present moment, the darkness continuing to envelop her in its clutches.

Suddenly, a portion of the darkness started to increase in brightness. She slowly walked towards it, her vision rapidly accompanying the darkness that surrounded her. Tilting her head to the side, Rhuben watched as the light continued to increase in brightness until she saw something. A city sky-line, then it changed to that of another sky-line, one she vaguely recognized, then to that of one she called home for a couple of years. The Boston skyline. She could see there were massive holes punched within the sides of buildings, while others continued to stand tall and proud, as if they had been an afterthought. As she continued to watch, the picture within the portal continued to change to different parts of the world, each showcasing the same sort of image she had been afraid to see.

Humans, regular people and elementals alike chained together, others being forced to work, others being forced from their homes. She had seen this before, in many of the history books, during the one subject they studied in depth every year. _They're all being forced to work for Uriel…sort of alike an Elemental concentration camp. _"We left our homes like this…we abandoned all of those people," she murmured.

"Abandoned isn't the word I'd use, Mistress," DeathLiger said as he padded up beside her. He nuzzled into her side as she lifted her hand and patted him on the head and shoulders. "You had no choice but to brought here, to reach your full potential. Much like the rest of the guardians and I had to go through when we were first given the ability to become our animal spirits. I see you sensed that you were able to control the darkness that much easier here."

Rhuben nodded silently. DeathLiger tilted his head to the side and licked her palm before lowering himself to the ground, resting his chin atop his paws. "That was to be expected," he remarked. "The Element World is a sort of utopia for those that are Elementals. All of the training that you've put in has helped you and your friends more than you could ever imagine."

"Do you think we'll be able to stop Uriel?"

"Being that he holds control over the Element of Life and Death I'd have to say that it will be a tough battle," DeathLiger said calmly. "And being back on Earth when you fight, it will definitely be hard for those that have to deal with the factions of darkness and light that reside in them. It will be especially hard once Uriel realizes that it's the darkness within you that can prove you and the others to be formidable weapons for him. Such as his use of Gattaca before, it had been easy for him to take over the being one he was on Earth rather than in the Element Kingdom."

A chill moved through Rhuben's body as she continued to watch the pictures that flashed by in front of her. Bringing up her hands to her arms, she briskly moved them up and down, trying to generate some heat. DeathLiger moved closer to her and she kneeled down by his side, taking in the heat that radiated off his body. She continued to grow cold, transfixed by the pictures that moved faster and faster as the seconds passed. As they continued to flash by, the pain in her head continued to grow until she was on her knees, screaming and clawing at her head and hair. She screamed and screamed, holding onto her head as tightly as she could, as if trying to hold her head together, it felt like bursting open.

DeathLiger immediately leapt to his paws and ducked his head underneath Rhuben, moving her up onto his back. Removing her hands from her head, she gripped DeathLiger's fur tightly. The darkness started to fade away, the light returning. She blinked hard a few times, as if coming up from a bad night dream with exhaustion forcing her eyes shut, then winced against the harsh light that was around her. Lifting her head she noticed Reihu still standing in front of her, holding onto her tightly. Twisting her head back and forth she spotted her friends as they had been before; Crystal talking to Dricer's parents Arielle and Kohl as she held a bright blue box against her lap—a gift from them she supposed, Zack twirling Riley around the dance floor—he always had been a good dancer—Patrick and Tapeworm enjoying the food that was spread for them, and the others conversing with the servants that were around to make sure the party ran smoothly.

Everything she had seen had been a vision, nothing happened to her.

"What's wrong?" Reihu asked her again.

"I need to get out of here." Rhuben backed away from Reihu and lifted the bottom of the gown she had been given, moving quickly across the grass and back inside the castle. Her footsteps echoed along the long walls as she moved quickly, hoping to get to the bed chambers before anyone stopped her. Reihu followed behind her at a quick pace, much like the lion part of him. "I…I don't know what's wrong," she said as she finally slowed down, trying to catch her breath. "I can't be out there. Something's wrong."

"What did you see?" Reihu stopped in front of her, grabbing onto her shoulders.

"Uriel's done a lot of damage back on Earth," Rhuben said. She then explained everything she had seen, Reihu's face turning darker and darker as she continued until he was scowling so hard she was afraid his face was going to freeze that way. A warning that parents always told their kids as a means to not be rude. Now she was sure he was about to do something stupid. "What?"

Reihu let out a growl and ran his hands over his hair, starting to pace. "Shortly after you guys left WingzCorp, Core had the same idea to make a sort of…camp I guess, for Elementals to stay in. But it was going to be a place where Elementals could live peacefully amongst the humans of Boston and the world. But now….now it's being used by Uriel to cause harm to everyone there." He took a deep breath and turned back to his girlfriend. "It was the Dark Lions' idea for the camp in the first place. Each faction of Wingz Corp; Black Wolves, Dark Lions, Dragon Gang, Spirit-X were supposed to come up with different ideas that Core could use to make sure the government wouldn't be able to continue their research on us."

"And how did he expect to have these things built? Invisibly?"

Reihu waved his hand. He sat down on the end of the bed, resting his chin in his hands. She recognized the look on his face. That he was blaming himself for everything going on back at their home. "I'm going to kill him," he finally said. "I'm going to kill Uriel once I get my hands on him. He caused my family to be broken apart and he's still destroying lives with no thought to it. I want him dead."

"Join the club," Rhuben remarked. She sat down on her bed, mind instantly going back to the visions she had, pushing away the pain that continued to pulse along with her blood flow. It's what she had to deal with, knowing that the darkness was there just as much as her blood, her life force was. "The rest of us want to be the one that delivers that final blow….if it's possible."

"Everyone has a weakness, Rhu, and we'll figure it out for Uriel." Reihu then paused as a look of clarity moved over his face. "I have to get back to Earth. I need to make sure Core is okay." Rhuben's eyebrows rose and she gave him a look of complete bewilderment. "Look, I know it's weird and that's he's done a lot of bad in your life, mine as well. But he was like a father to me in many ways and I wouldn't be able to handle the thought of Uriel doing something to him that I couldn't have done to Uriel first."

A light laugh escaped Rhuben's lips and she shook her head. "Well, you certainly have grown up a lot, become much more than that little kid that followed everyone around."

"Unfortunately, war can do that to you," he remarked, looking her in the eyes.

Rhuben's eyebrows lowered as she pressed her lips together. How right he was. She used to be so different before everything fell apart around her. She was the girl that faced every day with nothing but excitement and happiness, was the peace-maker amongst her siblings, and while she was still close to her, was very close to her twin sister, much like Zack and Cody and Patrick and Noah were to each other. But with everything that had happened, they purposefully distanced themselves from each other in case something permanently separated them. All of her eagerness to see the next day, the happy child that was waiting for each new experience was replaced by a cold, hardened girl that waited for the next battle that was coming her way.

And she hated it.

She hated it so much she was sick.

Reihu reached out and pulled Rhuben against his chest, gently rubbing her band with his hand, his elongated nails lightly scratching her back as he did so. Rhuben held onto him tightly, closing her eyes. For the moment she wanted nothing more than to ignore everything going around them and hope there was something worth living for…

* * *

Mother Nature looked down at the part that spread across the grounds of the castle. She looked over as Father Time walked up to her side. She could tell from the look he gave her that he had become aware of the change in energy around them.

It was time for them to go back to Earth.

* * *

**A/N: **So, I had to make one of the hardest decisions when it came to this story, and that was showing off the rest of the match-ups, those that were mentioned in this chapter. For time's sake, I had to take them out so that I could get further into the story and not drag it out as long. Trust me; it was really disappointing when I realized that I had to take it out. But the thing is that I will either write them as one-shots, or write them as flashbacks as I had done with the fight between the Elementals and Mother Nature.

So, as I've said before I was thinking of going back to re-do the Home Series and for those that haven't read it, it was the story that introduced our characters, their back story, and the element world. However as everyone knows, part of the Jacksons' back story is the abuse from their foster father at the time, I was thinking of leaving that element out of the Home series, as it was done there, and putting it in a 'regular story' (like that of DYRADYFA, SMFM, and HMSM) that goes along with the show, as I had done for the 'Suite Life Episode Collection' that had been written a while ago.

But I've also thought of an idea of a 'regular' story where Crystal's mother and the Jacksons's parents were still alive. It's a lot to think about, just wanted to give a heads up about the things that I've been working on.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	37. A Look Into the Past VIII

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

* * *

"Boys, I'm leaving. Come give me a hug goodbye."

Carey turned away from the door as she heard the sound of rapid footsteps heading her way from the living room. She smiled as her six-year-old twin boys hurried over to her. Cody reached her first, throwing his arms around her waist, Zack right behind him.

"Mommy, do you have to leave?" Cody asked, tilting his head back and resting his chin on her stomach. "Stay here. You said you were going to play crazy eights with us."

"I know, sweetie, but I got a really great job offer to sing at a prestigious event and I couldn't turn it down." Carey kneeled down and held her sons' hands. Her heart hurt as she watched Cody pout and turn his gaze towards the ground. Zack, on the other hand, continued to stand beside her, gently holding onto her coat but staying silent. "This is a cocktail party for one of the richest people in the city and they want me to sing there. This will give us enough money to get you guys those new bikes you've been asking for."

"But do we have to stay here?" Zack finally asked, lifting his gaze towards her. He looked around the foyer before letting out a light sigh. "I don't like it at Grandma's."

Carey smiled a little, doing her best not to roll her eyes as at what was her son's normal complaint. "I know she has a tendency to lose track of her teeth but—"

"No!" Zack's eyes widened in earnest. "Her house is scary. There's always someone watching me. In our room." Carey then let out a short sigh, tired of the same complaint Zack had for nearly the entire last year. "There's something there, Mom. I've seen it. It's scary."

"Zack, there is no shadow monster in your room. There are no such things as shadow monsters. It's just your imagination getting the best of you. And you like to watch scary movies all the time even though I keep telling you not to." She gently grabbed onto Zack's arms and pressed her forehead against his, causing him to smile a little. "I promise, if there were, I would go in and send that monster away because no one will hurt my kids. Okay?" She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before doing the same to Cody. "And besides, while I'm gone, Cody will protect you."

"Cody can't protect me," Zack protested. "He needs his blankie to protect him. I don't need a blankie." Carey started to stand up and Zack reached out to her hand. "Mommy!"

A light sigh escaped the young woman's lips as she ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. Clearly her work, her constant moving the boys around was hurting them more than helping but until they managed to find a place where she could have a permanent job, they didn't have a choice. There was never an opportunity to stick around in one place for more than a few months before they managed to land back in Seattle with her mother who begged Carey to move there. That was also an option but then she would be throwing in the towel, giving into what she had wanted to avoid throughout her life. Wanting to show her sister she was able to take care of herself and wasn't someone who had to rely on the handouts people would give her. While she knew it was an option, finding her own place to live with her boys was the ultimate goal.

"If I don't go to work, baby, then we won't have any money."

"I don't need a bike."

"But I want you to have one." Carey looked up as her mother stood in the doorway behind her sons and gave her a sympathetic glance. Carey gave a light nod in response before kneeling down once more. "I have to go or I'll be late. I promise I'll bring something back for you guys. Now give me a hug." She opened her arms and Zack and Cody walked into her, giving her a tight hug. Carey stood up, hugging them tightly as she rocked back and forth. "Love you."

"Love you," Zack and Cody replied.

Carey turned towards her mother as she walked towards her and handed the boys over to her. "So, boys, what do you say we have a big bowl of ice cream, huh?" Grandma Shelley said as she hugged the boys to her chest, doing her best to distract them from Carey's departure. "That would be delicious, wouldn't it?"

"But aren't we supposed to have dinner first?" Cody asked, his attention immediately turned to his mother. Zack, on the other hand, immediately brightened at the mention of dessert, both missing their mother quietly slide out the front door of the house.

"Can I have chocolate?" Zack asked, leaning up into his Grandmother's face. "And pecans. Grandpa Jim like pecans. I want pecans like Grandpa Jim, Grandma." He kicked his legs back and forth, signaling Grandma Shelley to put the twin boys down. They immediately raced through the living room and to the kitchen, where Grandpa Jim was reading a crossword puzzle. "Grandpa Jim, you like pecans on your ice cream right?"

"Shouldn't we have ice cream after dinner, Grandpa Jim?" Cody asked, climbing up onto his lap. He stuck his tongue out at his brother as Zack frowned, leaning against Grandpa Jim's leg. "Mommy wouldn't like this."

"Cody, if there's one thing I can tell you that your mother won't, she loves ice cream more than the next person and will take the chance to eat it when she gets it," Grandpa Jim said. He leaned to the side and winced, pulling Zack onto this lap as well. "And, she likes pecans on her ice cream, too, it's your Grandma that doesn't." He leaned close to the boys and spoke in a stage whisper. "Personally, I think something's wrong with her."

"I heard that, Jim," Grandma Shelley called from the counter. "And if we're going to talk about people being weird, let's not talk about your obsession with finishing the crossword puzzle before you go to bed. Which you never do."

"I sometimes do!"

"You always fall asleep in front of the TV with it lying on your chest. Then you wake up and get mad that you didn't finish it, drag your old butt to bed complaining, and do it all over again the next day."

"Ah, forget you."

"Forget you, too."

Zack and Cody giggled at their grandparents' antics as Grandma Shelley finished dishing out the bowls of ice cream and passed them out around the table before joining them. Zack eagerly grabbed the bottle of chocolate syrup and spread it over the top of his ice cream, globs of it spilling down the sides of the bowl and onto the table top before handing it over to Cody, who seemed to take Grandpa Jim's words as an okay, and messily spread it across his as well.

Kicking his legs back and forth, Cody scooped gooey spoonfuls of the creamy dessert into his mouth, being as neat as possible, but still spilling on himself as he did so. He continued to eat happily, only stopping when he heard a sudden intake of breath. Confused, he lifted his head and watched as his twin brother's face turned red before he belt out a bloodcurdling scream and raced out of the kitchen. Startled, Cody knocked his bowl of ice cream over before jumping down from his seat. He hurried to the living room and leapt onto the couch, grabbing blankie. As he did so, he turned and watched as Grandma Shelley and Grandpa Jim hurried after Zack.

He started to move off of the couch to go help his brother, whose screams and wails wafted down from upstairs, but stopped when he spotted something dark shoot across his field of vision. Frozen with fear, Cody held onto his blankie as he looked around the living room. The shadow darted across his field of vision once more before sticking to one point in the wall. And as Cody watched, the dark shadow on the wall formed the shape of a hand and slowly started to reach out towards him. It stretched and stretched as Cody's fear continued to hold him down. All of a sudden, there was a bright flash of blue light and the hand shot back through the wall.

Finding that he was able to move again, Cody balled his blanket up in his hands, threw it over his head, and screamed.


	38. She's going to send us home

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

* * *

Aaron looked around to be sure the coast was clear before tugging on his sister's hand and leading her into an empty room. Judging by the angle the sound of footsteps reached his ears, he could tell Sydney was on the far side of the room, pacing back and forth with an empty space on the floor in front of him. The footsteps continued for a few seconds then stopped and Aaron got a clear mental picture of an expression of impatience on his cousin's face.

"It took me a little bit to make sure no one noticed us leaving," he explained before Sydney could say anything. "Besides, I think this would be hard to explain to everyone else when we can't exactly explain it ourselves."

"I can," Sydney replied, sounding affronted. "Though I can't imagine what the backlash would be for keeping it a quiet for so long. I did have good reasoning though."

"Good reason for what?" Crystal asked. She dropped her hand from Aaron's and crossed her arms over her chest as she regarded her youngest cousin. He chewed his lower lip, suddenly appearing his age of eleven years old, caught doing something he shouldn't have been doing. "What's going on, Syd?"

He was silent for a long moment, twisting the tip of his shoe into the ground. He didn't go as far as to stick out his lower lip and twiddle his thumbs as most kids would when they were trying to appear innocent, but it was enough. Aaron understood the hesitation, this was something that would either really help her or hurt her beyond recognition. Besides, afterwards it was bound to be a big conversation for debate once the others found out. "I wanted to give you your birthday present," Sydney finally said.

A light smile stretched across Crystal's face. "I already told Cody…I don't need a gift."

"You'll want this one."

Sydney cleared his throat before holding out his hand. There was a bright flash of light and his staff appeared in his hands. There was another flash of light and SpiritSaru appeared at Sydney's side, crouching quietly behind his ward. If anything was to happen, as working with spirits turned out to be as precarious as dealing with darkness, he was ready to be there for backup. After letting out another slow breath, Sydney closed his eyes, encircling his staff with his hands. A solid blue aura appeared around the spirit Elemental and the bright blue gem at the tip of his staff became encased in light that erupted from the ground beneath him. The light started to swirl and spin around each other, arching and curving as the seconds passed to create the shape of a magic circle. Once more, when the last lines of light came together, a white figure started to slide out from within the magic circle.

Sydney opened his eyes and spun his staff around his palm as the light faded. Aaron turned to Crystal and reached out, lightly pressing his pal against her arm. He could feel her shaking, hear her ragged breaths and could tell what her expression was one of wonder, happiness, and maybe a little bit of dismay? Though he couldn't be quite sure.

"Mom," she said, taking in the sight of Kristin Manning, who smiled down at her daughter.

"Happy Birthday, baby," Kristin said to her. Crystal gently reached out her hand and gently reached out her fingers towards her mother. Startled, feeling the warmth of her mother's hand, she quickly brought it back as if burned. "I know this may be hard to understand, but it's so great to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Mom," Crystal said. She took a few steps closer to her mother and allowed her hand to rest on her mother's wrist. Her fingers closed over the bracelet her mother wore, bringing her fingers over the stones that were embedded into the leather. "I don't…I don't understand, I…"

"Sweetie, all you need to know is that I've been watching you throughout all of this," Kristin said. She reached up and cupped Crystal's cheeks in her hands. The ice elemental flinched at the touch, not out of fear, but out of pure emotion. Tears immediately escaped from her eyes as she did her best to stay calm, sucking in deep breaths every few seconds, a light whimper coming from her mouth as she did so. "You and your father. And…if I could explain everything right now, I would. But I want you to know that things will get better soon and that you, Zack, Cody, and the others will do great things as you have done since everything started."

"You know about Zack and Cody?"

"I know about a lot of things Cryssie," Kristin said. She then gave her daughter a sad smile. "And I wish I could explain it to you. But I can't. Not right now. Now's not the time, and I hope you're not angry with me when you do." She shifted her eyes towards Sydney and Aaron. "The boys can do it better than I can, but please don't be angry with them either. It was imperative that things were kept quiet for a while."

"I had to keep it from my brother's and sister's too," Sydney explained. He lowered his gaze. "And from everyone else. They were finally able to do what they needed to do, and they're making their way back now. Still, it had to be something none of us mentioned."

Aaron spoke up. "The only reason I know is because…well, because of the somewhat power I have. We know I'm not an elemental but…I can feel things about Earth and the Element World that no one else can. I can…sort of see things. Just like I knew about the cores of Earth _and _the Element World and that it was the reason for the collapse. And then this came up…" he trailed off.

The ice elemental dropped her hand from her mother's grasp and took a step back. She placed her hands on her hips, pressing her lips firmly together. Lowering her gaze to the floor, she tried to take in everything that was being told to her, how her mother was there, how she could feel her. It had been something she yearned for, for years. She cried for months after she had gone to bed, crying for her mother to come to her room and comfort her as every kid was accustomed to. Her father was there to do it, but it was different; there were many things kids went to their father's for but they were born from their mother, having taken in that bond even long before they were birthed to life, and was something that would always be held onto no matter how much children have aged.

She remembered growing up, being aware there was a void that her father could never fill no matter how hard he tried to be there for her. In many ways it was her mother that had kept their family together; as much as Crystal loved and adored her father, he had tendencies to fold in on himself and focus on his work to the point of exhaustion. Things had gotten better once Aaron joined their family, but there was still that portion missing. It was her motivation when working with her powers and trying to understand everything about the Elementals, a testament to Kristin's life in some way. The longer Crystal harnessed her powers and worked on the, even before her move to Boston, she felt she was closer to her mother in some strange way.

Now, she was more confused than ever. "I don't understand," she finally murmured.

"Well, there's a simple explanation," Sydney said. He nodded over at Aaron who grabbed onto Crystal's hand and held it tightly. He needed to be there in case she reacted as badly to the news as Sydney had when he first found out.

"Crys," Aaron said slowly, to his sister. "They're not dead. Your Mom…Uncle Reed and Aunt Renee…they're alive."

"That's not possible."

"Yes, it is."

Crystal turned back to her mother, her eyebrows lowering. She winced as the sounds of squealing breaks, screaming, and a crashing metal and glass entered her head, the memories of the crash that had claimed her mother's life and injured her years before. It was something she was unable to push from her mind no matter how hard she tried. He mind swirled, picturing year after year without her mother around and now.

"I'm sorry I can't explain it any further than they have," Kristin whispered, able to sense her daughter's anxiety. "There is no time, but please know that I haven't stopped loving you or your father and I haven't ever stopped thinking about you."

"I love you, too, Mom," Crystal mumbled, as if unable to form words. "It's just…I don't…"

"I promise I will see you soon, I will explain everything, but it's time to go." Kristin pressed her palms together. "There is a reason all of this has happened the way it did, I…_we_…couldn't let anyone know what was happening because of Uriel. He made us unable to do a lot of things, but it's all going to end soon. Especially now that the Oracle Element is in your possession."

"How did you know about—"

"—I have to go," Kristin repeated. She gave her daughter another smile before slowly fading. Aaron went over to Sydney and placed a hand on his shoulder. He felt his cousin trembling under his hand and he let out a light sigh. He felt the familiar tingling in his hand as his power manifested, and the spirit Elemental immediately calmed down.

"You knew?" Crystal asked. "This whole time?"

"I told you, it's something we weren't supposed to say," Aaron replied. He tilted his head to the side as he thought of the best way to explain it. He hadn't even been told what was going on when he first found out. It was more like a feeling, a feeling that would sometimes give him visions or ideas of what was happening on another side of the world or in the Element World. He had no idea how it was happening, but it was something he managed to recognize when it started and used to his advantage. "If we did, this wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have come to the Element World, we wouldn't have figured out the Oracle Element, the Book of Esme, or Mother Nature and Father Time. This was _supposed _to happen."

"One way or another," Sydney added.

Even though he couldn't see her, Aaron knew Crystal was giving them a skeptical look if not one of indignation. He understood that. He had kept the secret about her mother—though she would be considered his mother as well—from her and their cousins for so long, but it wasn't as if he and Sydney hadn't had things kept from him before—when Sydney was placed in their care while his siblings raced off to do…whatever it was they were doing when they left the SS Tipton the first time. But they had done the same with Zack, Cody, Maddie, Max, and Tapeworm all from the very beginning, kept things secret and made sure they only knew what they would be able to handle knowing, and things worked out well there.

_That's the point of being a team, isn't it? _Aaron thought. _Trusting each other. Even if we have to trust when someone else is keeping something quiet. _He started to say something else, and then stopped when an image of Mother Nature appeared in his head. He could see it in complete color, watching as she seemed to be…gazing over the kingdom? He couldn't see the other side of the vision exactly, not even when he tried to turn around. His feet were rooted to the floor but he could still see Mother Nature clearly. Then the vision faded and it was replaced with one of Earth.

He understood it instantly.

"What?" Crystal asked her brother, suddenly kneeling by his side. He hadn't heard her approach him and jumped slightly when she placed her hands on his shoulders. The way she held him, however, he could tell she didn't hold any ill-will towards her. Him fingers lightly grasped him, yet firmly held him into place, much like a mother trying to explain something to her child, trying to explain something that would sit with him for the rest of his or her life, molding and shaping him as time went on. "What did you see?"

"Mother Nature," he replied. "She wants to see us. She's sending us home."

* * *

The Elementals stood in front of Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca as they looked down upon the warriors that had spent the passing years protecting their home and the invisible home they had only just recently managed to travel to. They were able to see how their guardians lived, how things paralleled and rivaled society on Earth, how intertwined both worlds were. And yet, time didn't stand still and it was the moment they had all waited for, to go back to Earth and finish things off once and for all. They had gone through battles with each other, protected the Kingdom, and seen how they reacted towards the attacks that had come from those still under Uriel's power.

She knew these were the ones that were going to do what hadn't been done before, what had been tried and failed. The prophecy wouldn't be fulfilled until they were back on Earth and facing Uriel for the last time, she had faith in them. She just hoped they had faith in themselves.

"It is time for you to return from where you came," Mother Nature explained, her voice echoing around the high ceilinged room. "To finally do what has been told in stories of old time. Uriel has done a great disservice to the Element World and to our kingdom when he attacked Father Time, myself, and our children. We banished him to a place where he thought he wouldn't have access to his powers but we have been proven wrong. We knew there were to be two of the strongest powers we have ever come across but didn't know when it was to happen."

"Then we watched as Uriel started this attack, first doing his best to killing our world and your world, where we banished him," Father Time said. He placed his hands behind his back and glanced over at his wife before regarding the elementals once more. "We were unable to use our forces to get to him and bring him back because of the havoc he was wreaking on our planet as well. We watched as he stalked you all, trying to take control when the chance came as he was aware of your power before we were aware. Then at fourteen years of age the two strongest elementals of your time has awakened and we knew the prophecy had a chance of coming true."

Zack and Cody turned away from Mother Nature and looked at each other. They had heard it many times before, of prophecies, or stories of what was going on within the Element World, of being targets because of the powers they had yet to exhibit. They remembered how they first started understanding their responsibility; using their excess powers to their advantage when having fun, doing chores, or playing pranks. Zack was able to do everything he had ever dreamed of doing as he read through comics and watched superheroes on movie screens, Cody, on the other hand, recognized the scientific advancements that were going on and continued his academic studies while keeping it form those who were out of the loop. They remembered how hard they tried to hide the presence of their guardians from their mother before they finally revealed them to her. How many days they continuously lived a double life while they fought Wingz Corp as hard as they could.

Their lives began to separate and they became Elementals more than they were humans; consistently wondering what was going to be revealed to them, who was going to be targeted next, and how long it would take before that threat was eliminated. Now this was to be something they either accomplished or would fight their hardest until the end.

"It wasn't until we knew of the prophecy that we were able to prepare, and that day has come," Mother Nature said one more. She clapped her hands and the Book of Esme suddenly appeared in front of her. "The prophecy has come through this book and only those that have the ability to hold it are the ones that are able to utilize it. Bailey has exhibited the ability to control the use of the Book of Esme and shall bring it with you on your journey. The Oracle Element of which the Element Stones have been carved from are under your possession and will aid you as well." As she said that, the Oracle Element shot out from Julius' hands and hovered over the Book of Esme, glowing as Mother Nature opened the book and flipped through pages. "It is now that you all will be awakened to your true potential."

Geneva and Gattaca moved to stand on either side of their parents and watched as the Oracle Element continued to glow, causing the book to glow as well. Then the four Elemental deities all started to chant the same incantation, the words of a mystical origin that the rest of them couldn't place. They continued to say it over and over again and the book and the Oracle Element continued to illuminate. Finally, Mother Nature lifted her gaze towards the Elementals once more.

"Would the Elementals of Water and Ice please step forward?" She called. Cody glanced over at Crystal before the two did as they were told. "Call out your weapons." Once again Cody and Crystal did as they were told, calling out 'Water of the Soul' and 'Cyclone Valkyrie' which unleashed their staff and hunting bow. "Precipio quod apparet in mundo virtute aqua et glacie Element!"

With that, there was an illumination of light that encompassed Cody and Crystal. The two Elementals watched as their weapons elongated and changed shape. Once the light faded and their weapons returned to their hands, they noticed that their clothes had changed as well. Cody's staff had transformed from a simple elongated pole with a bright blue gem at the top to what appeared to be a trident with a gem connecting the points together accompanied by blue swirls along the length of the staff, giving it the appearance of running water. Crystal's hunting bow had transformed so that three arrows were able to be strung within them rather than the one she had before, the front of which housing spikes that appeared like ice crystals glinting in the light around them. Their clothes had changed as well as Cody's sweatshirt and jeans transformed into that of what appeared to be medieval armor with blue and water accents to it, along with a blue cloak overtop and Crystal's changed to that of a blue sleeveless trench coat overtop a chest plate that stretched down to her hips, and protective armor festooned around her spandex covered legs to her brown boots, on her arm was a quiver that spring loaded arrows to be placed within her bow.

"The power of the Element World has been granted to you," she explained once the light faded. "Please allow it to protect you as you go on to defeat the threat that has been presented upon your home." Crystal and Cody nodded and stepped back in line as Mother Nature turned to Bailey. "As the medium to the Element World, a lot of power has been bestowed upon you, I do not believe you will take that responsibility lightly." She said a different phrase than that was bestowed upon Cody and Crystal and her clothes changed to a billowy, white, two piece tunic, her hair gently blowing around her face. "You will do great things with the Book of Esme under your control."

"Thank you," Bailey said quietly. "I'll do my best."

"Geneva and Gattaca will see you throw everything you need and will aid you in every way they can," Father Time added. He turned to his son and daughter and nodded at the two of them before they nodded back and appeared down by Bailey's side. They placed their hands on her shoulders before lying dormant within her body once more.

"Will the Fire Elementals please step forward and raise our weapons?" Zack and Riley did as they were told and as Mother Nature said her incantation one more time, Zack's sword and Riley's chain sickle morphed. Zack's sword turned into a heavy sword, the blade created by waves of fire, while Riley's chain sickle turned into scythe blades that were attached to the forearms of her battle suit.

The process followed with the rest of the Elementals; Rhuben's heavy sword expanded in size until it was about five times her height and weight—which she maneuvered with ease—and pulsated with black and purple darkness accents, Patrick's scythe transformed into a lightning spear, Sydney's staff morphed into what resembled an elven staff similar to those used in works much like the Lord of the Rings, Noah's hammer transformed into a mighty battle axe, and Tapeworm's daggers morphed together into a shield that was given to him. Maddie and Julius, who had not received weapons when they had first awakened, had their outfits changed along with the rest of the Elementals, which Mother Nature noted will come to them as soon as they tapped into a significant portion of their powers within battle.

"It's now time for you to go back to Earth!" Mother Nature raised her arms. "Where you will face a tough battle. Even tougher than anything you have ever faced before. There will be times where you wish to give up, but please be reminded that you have the Element World backing you up as well as those that are aiding you on Earth."

"Do you think we'll be able to come back?" Cody asked, taking a step towards her. "After this is all over?"

"Don't fret over us," Father Time gently chided. "We have enough that we can handle on our own; we do not want to cloud your judgment with the well-being of our world."

"We thank you for all of the help that you've given us," Zack agreed. He bowed to the two figures, his friends following suit. "We wouldn't be able to go this far without you."

Mother Nature and Father Time smiled down at them, much like proud parents would. She then allowed the Book of Esme and the Oracle Element to be returned to Julius and Bailey before she turned to Father Time and grasped his hands. The two closed their eyes and concentrated on their power and within seconds the Elementals were gone, sent back down to Earth and where their destinies awaited.

* * *

**A/N: **Finally, things pick up again with the next chapter as they're all back on Earth (the next few chapters get a better look as to what each of the battle outfits looks like, as the change of weapons were more important overall). As I have said in on Twitter, I plan on having this story done with 50 chapters, especially as things will pick up pace, though that doesn't mean it'll stay ending at 50 chapters, it depends on how things work out. But sine I'm done with my Flash story, I'm moving this story to its slot to be updated every Monday so that means more frequent updates to this story.

As I have said before I do have ideas for two sequels to this, but I dunno if I'm going to write them anytime soon. Not to mention the re-write of the Home series. And then there are the element-free slozac and slod story ideas I have (not to mention one-shots) so I'll be writing in this fandom for a while though there are other stories in other fandoms I've been putting off a bit.

I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles  
**


	39. Revelations

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

* * *

Carey stared at Akito for a few moments before turning to Kurt, who sat at her side with the same expression of confusion on his face. The two then turned back towards the other figures that had come out of the back room as Akito had been speaking and stared at them once more. There was no way this was possible. _Then again, you didn't think anything about your kids having powers was possible either, _she reminded herself. _Not until last year and that was before you had to leave Boston to be sure you were safe._

"I know this is all hard to understand," Kristin Manning said gently as she moved to sit next to her grandfather. She gracefully pulled her feet up so that she was sitting Indian style. "It's really hard to explain, but we need you to know that while Zack and Cody are just as important to what is going on right now, so are you and Kurt."

"I understand that they have powers and those things that help keep them safe," Kurt said slowly.

"Their guardians, mate," Reed Jackson corrected. He stood in the back of the room, alternatively looking out the window behind them, to be prepared in case there was any attack coming their way. "In the Element World, once a human is born, they are or aren't marked to become a guardian. Though, that doesn't necessarily mean they are to take the job that has been offered of them, it can be turned down. However you are considered to be very special if you get the opportunity. Every Elemental has a guardian and the guardian is latched onto a specific Elemental once it is noted by Mother Nature or Father Time that they are marked to be one." He turned to his wife, who stood nearby his side and she took up the explanation.

"In some cases, many believe that once an Elemental is born the guardian is born as well and they're marked to be together," Renee Jackson said. She brushed her long ponytail over her shoulder. "But that's not the conversation that we need to have at the moment. There is something of even greater importance we need to speak about. It's only a matter of time until Uriel decides to unleash his full sense of power."

Mr. Moseby cleared his throat before getting to his feet. He turned to the three figures that stood in front of him and then glanced at Akito, then towards the silvery fox that sat by his side. "I'm sorry," he said in his high-pitched voice that was a typical precursor to his screaming. "But…aren't you supposed to be dead? I'm not saying that I don't want you here, but the fact of the matter is that your children think you aren't alive."

London suddenly let out an almighty scream, causing the others to turn her way in case there was a sneak attack they had not seen coming. "You're telling me that I'm looking at a bunch of ghosts?" She asked, regarding them with eyes filled with fear. However, Carey wasn't sure if it was from the possibility that they had, indeed, been conversing with the dead, or if she was still reliving the torture each of them had gone through at the hands of Uriel as he tried to force the location of the boys and his friends out of them.

"We're not dead," Kristin reassured her as gently as she could. "But I'll admit that it will be a bit tough to explain once they all know. However, I was able to get in contact with Crystal and let her know that we aren't dead as well."

"And how did you do that?" The hotel heiress demanded. "Did you float over to her and haunt her too?"

"No," Akito said calmly. "She used the link between Sydney's power of the spirits through this guy." He reached out and ran a hand along the fox's back. "As I've explained before, he's a sort of protective guardian of the family and has his own abilities." He slowly stood up with the help of Kristin and went over to Carey and Kurt. "We don't have much time to explain, but it is as I had said before. You are very important to what it is that Zack and Cody are doing, what they have became, because the gene of being an Elemental passes on through the females of the family. In such case, Carey has been the one to pass on the gene."

"What does that have to do with me, then?" Kurt asked.

Akito smiled at him, a light twinkle in his eye. "You two are the start of this whole thing…in more ways than you would originally believe. You see, with everything that has gone on since the very beginning of the existence of Elementals on Earth; the discovery of Elementals within the government, the continued research, Uriel's trying to destroy everyone that knew about his existence, Zack and Cody awakening, Core trying to find the two of them, the prophecy that has been discovered, the collapsing of the two worlds. It was all made to happen, just as there is a reason that Zack and Cody are the strongest Elementals of our time."

The Martins continued to look at each other in confusion. This was all new to them. Until the boys were sixteen years old, they thought they were normal boys that went to school, hung out with their friends, and acted as normal as any teenager could. Sure, there were things here and there that caused them some worry. Carey still wasn't sure how they managed to come back from school so battered and bruised, though they always had an excuse ready. A soccer game. A football game. They got beat up by some bullies—which she knew now wasn't far from the truth. They had been crawling around in the Tipton air ducts. Excuse after excuse that she took at face value though the voice in the back of her head managed to plague her with slight worry. But there had been another part of her that didn't worry that though the boys knew what they were doing.

She had no idea why that thought came to her mind time after time. Maybe it was because they were constantly surrounded by their friends, so any trouble they got into couldn't be that bad. Thinking about it now, she could remember when she had first met the Jacksons and Crystal, other than the overwhelming sense of maturity that had befallen over them since the deaths of their parents; there was something off about them. If she were to believe in the paranormal or the unexplained in any sense, she would've understood it was because she had sensed something within them—and by extension Max, Tapeworm, and her sons themselves—she couldn't quite put her finger on.

"They're the ones that are made to save this world and the Element World but they need your help as well." Akito clapped his hands together and the fox by his side immediately leapt to its paws and stood at attention. "I need you to open your minds and remember the past that has brought you here."

Kurt let out a nervous chuckle. "Are you sure you want to do that?" He asked. "I mean, there are so many things that I managed to bury in my past I'm not sure people want to hear about, let alone see." His nervous chuckle turned into full blown nervous laughter as his ex-wife turned towards him with a slight glare on her face.

"What sort of things?" She asked. "Like why you haven't paid child support in so long?"

"If this is what we have to do to save the world, then you should do it," London suddenly said. She turned to Reed, Renee, Kristin, and Akito, motioning towards them. "There's so much of this we don't understand and they seem to have all of the answers. Boston is in trouble. Our home. The whole world. If Zack and Cody are the only things that can save us, then I want to help somehow. I hope you do, too."

Touched, Carey regarded the hotel heiress with a renewed sense of surprise. The girl had had her head in the clouds for so long, probably as a way to ignore the fact that her father didn't show his care for her more than he did his work. But here she was, just as she had done when they were still in Boston, standing up to do something as their home was continuously destroyed. She truly had managed to grow into a strong woman that Mr. Tipton who would be proud to know. If any of them lived long enough to see that their families again.

"London's right," Mr. Moseby agreed. "We don't have time for any of these petty fights." He held up his hands. "I still hope that I'm back on the SS Tipton or even within the confines of my own apartment dreaming, seconds away from being pranked awake by your hoolingan sons. But all of this appears to be real and we need to stop it before it gets any worse."

_What worse than what's already happened? _The thought crossed Carey's mind before she could stop it. However, she could hear it wasn't in her own voice but someone else's. One that sounded very much familiar. _Do you want to be responsible for the deaths of many other people, more than the ones that have already fallen prey to Uriel's power? There is more you can do than sit around and wait for your sons to get back and save the World. They need all the help they can get and you're one of their biggest aids of all._

"What do we need to do?" Kurt asked.

"Allow yourself to open your minds to the lives that have always been there," Reed explained. "That you may not have remembered."

Carey watched as the fox came closer to her and Kurt, taking slow, calculated steps towards the two of them. It's eyes started to glow as white as its silvery fur, the light increasing as the seconds passed. Carey wanted to bring her arms up to shield her face, but found that she couldn't move. The light continued to brighten until there was a complete absence of color. She tried to call out for Kurt, but found that her voice was stuck in her throat. She could feel her vocal chords straining, her chest moving up and down, but found herself unable to make a sound.

Then there was a sudden flash of green light, an orb that appeared in front of her that continued to increase in brightness as the seconds passed. The orb elongated until it was the shape of a human and continued to fill in on itself. She could see the flowing hair mixing in with the dress that continue to swirl around the legs of the figure, despite there being a lack of wind. As it continued to fill, Carey got a good look at the green eyes that twinkled back at her, filled with confidence and a sense of regal and authority. Finally it filled in completely and despite having never seen the figure before her in her entire life, Care felt as if she was looking into a mirror.

Mother Nature smiled back at Carey and lightly reached out her hand. Carey did the same, looking down to see that her hand was out and lightly touching the woman's despite not feeling her arm move at all. She had no control over her body but if felt right. Her fingertips lightly touched Mother Nature's and there was a sudden warm bath of green light that swirled around Carey, enveloping her in the pillowy softness. As the light faded, so did the figure of Mother Nature, naturally fading until there was nothing before her but the bright light she had seen before.

Finally, the light faded and Carey found herself back in the sitting room of the Japanese house. Turning towards her ex-husband as his eyes flew open, she could see the stunned expression on his face, knowing it mirror the expression on hers. He had seen the same thing, experienced the same thing.

"Well?" London asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. "What happened?"

"I…I saw something," Kurt explained slowly. "There was a man in front of me…I've never seen him before but it was…it was like I was looking at myself."

"Me too," Carey agreed. She ran a hand through her hair and turned back to Akito, who smiled warmly at her. Now an excited look to his eye. "But that doesn't make sense, who were those people? How come we know who they are?"

"That is because it is your past life," Akito explained. The fox trotted back to his side and flopped down at your feet. "You Carey, were Mother Nature in a past life. As such Kurt was Father Time. If that is any indication, Zack and Cody are the reincarnates of Gattaca and Geneva as well. You have opened your mind to your true forms. That is the key to defeating Uriel and restoring both worlds that are in peril."

"So what do we do now?" Mr. Moseby asked.

"We get to Boston," Renee declared. "And find your sons and stop Uriel once and for all."


	40. It was black fire

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

* * *

Zack did his best to keep his mouth from dropping open when he saw what had come of his home. Boston was in shambles. It was the best way he could put it. There was no other word to describe the state other than it appeared to be…completely wiped off whatever map they could possible find. Hovering through the air on Blazen's back he looked around for miles all he could see was smoke, dark clouds…and destruction. The tall buildings that had reminded him of bigger cities liked New York and Paris were gone, the houses he had normally been able to see where leveled and judging by the smoke that continued to swirl in the air around them, there was a fire burning somewhere.

The slight beacon of hope that kept him from going completely crazy was that he could see the Tipton hotel still standing. Windows were blown out, and it appeared that a portion of the back wall had been collapsed or broken into for supplies, but it was still standing. /_Maybe the Tipton is protected_/ Blazen said to him. _/Just like Sydney can make shields around us. I think you guys were able to make it so that the place that's been your home for so long can't be torn down/._

_I guess that makes sense, _Zack thought. _Just like our guardians protect us, we've found a way to protect something that's important to us._

/_Yes, but as time goes on the powers of the guardian aren't needed as much. Once you come into the power that you are capable of, us guardians aren't needed in fights or to directly protect as we were when you first awaken, but that doesn't mean we're not there for you in many other ways._

Zack nodded. He let out a long sigh as he continued to look around the city landscape. As if reading his thoughts—which Zack was sure that the guardians were able to do as well—Blazen slowly shifted in a circle so the fire elemental could get a 360 degree view. Then he pulled himself up higher into the air, with Cody and Phantom following along with him. The fire and water elementals exchanged glances before they turned back to their friends, who were all silently, horrifically, staring at the former city landscape below them. And as Zack locked eyed with Cody, he could see the two were thinking the same thing; this was going to be the toughest thing they'd ever have to face along with the question of: how long had they been gone?

They knew time ran differently in the Element World than on Earth but hadn't thought it was something they thought would have caused so much damage in terms of what would happen while they were gone. Not only were they only in the Element World in a few days by their estimate, how long they had been gone from Earth made it appear that they had been away from the city for weeks. There was one thing Zack was glad about, in a bittersweet sort of way, he couldn't see any news copters flying around, trying to get a good look at the city. The bad news, he realized, was that it probably meant the city had been given up on.

Zack didn't get a chance to dwell on it, or what that meant for the family he had left behind when going to the Element World, before he felt a searing pain in his arm and looked down in time to see a gash open up on his arm and blood start to flow freely from it. His gasp of pain attracted the attention of his friends, breaking them out of the stupor and turned towards him. Cody moved closer to his brother and examined the wound, seconds before he was hit in the arm as well.

"What the—?" escaped his lips before Zack listened carefully at the sudden whistling sound and the change of the wind behind him.

He whipped his head around and brought his hand up in time to catch something in his palm. Opening his hand, he turned it over to see a black spear in his hand. He frowned, turning it in his hand before turning his attention back towards the ground, his eyes shifting so that he took on the power of the aviary; his gaze moving a mile down towards the ground, he could see a plethora of the same sharp, black spears heading their way. It took him a second for his eyesight to shift, straining slightly, until he spotted the four figures on the street below them; four elementals that were creating the spears out of their hands and throwing it up towards them.

"It's an attack!" He called, lowering himself so that he lay flat against Blazen's back. "Uriel must've been tipped off that we came back. "Get to the Tipton hotel, it's the safest place we can be right now!" He held out his hand and his new sword appeared in it. Cody did the same as his improved staff appeared in his. "Go! Now!"

"What about you?" Tapeworm called to him.

"Cody and I can hold em' off, right now we need to make sure that we get to safety in one piece." Zack tilted his head to the side, a light smile coming to his face. It was surprising what some new powers and an explanation from the Element World could do for his confidence. "If we're the ones that are going to save the world, it wouldn't make much sense to die, would it?"

He gripped Blazen's shoulders and held his sword high above his head as the fire guardian shot down towards the ground with Phantom and Cody following after him. Zack turned his head to the side to be sure that his friends did as they were told, he could see them streaking across the sky in the opposite direction, then turned his attention back towards the spears coming his way. Moving his sword back and forth in front of his face, Zack easily fended off the spears that headed his way, the metallic sounds of it clashing against his sword caused him to let out a grim smile. He could feel the surge of power from the Element stone within him, much stronger than he had been able to feel it before. Now, knowing Mother Nature and Father Time had, in a way, added their presence to their powers, he knew it was only a matter of time until Uriel decided to come out of the woodwork and show himself so that they could get this over with once and for all.

Blazen came close to the ground and Zack's eyes widened when he realized that the Elementals that were fighting him all had darkened eyes, much like the ones that Uriel had. However, he was unsure if it was under their own doing that they wanted to work for him or else they were under some sort of a spell, but knew he couldn't think about it for too long. Hesitation, he had learned a while ago, only caused the worst things to happen. His guardian turned Zack so that he had the angle to swipe his sword around and cause the steel Elementals to duck out of the way. Blazen and Phantom lowered enough so that Zack and Cody jumped off of their backs and landed on the ground, holding their weapons up as they did so.

There was a flash of red and blue light and the eagle guardians morphed into their human forms. Zack had to blink a couple of times to be sure he was seeing the right person standing in front of him. It certainly looked like Blazen, but instead of the fourteen year old boy the guardian used to resemble, his friend now appeared to be about twenty-years old. Glancing over at Phantom, he could see the water eagle had appeared to have grown older as well. Not that it was confusing in any sense, they had been told before that guardians aged differently than humans did, but to see it in person when he was so used to seeing the beast or small form of his guardian was a bit of a shock.

Blazen seemed to have noticed the attention now put on him for he turned to Zack and smiled a little. "What? Haven't you heard of the 'Period of Change'? We got through it a couple of times throughout our lifetimes."

"I think they would love to have a continuation of this conversation," Phantom said. "But I think we're a little busy at the moment." He turned around and kicked the chest of a Steel Elemental as it hurried his way, knocking him back. Zack was thrown off by how young the Elemental looked; appearing to be nothing older than fifteen. The other three Elementals that were with him were about his age as well; thirteen, sixteen, and fifteen if he had to guess. About the same age he had been when he first awakened. If Uriel had the city, the World, to himself while they had been gone, who knows how many Elementals had managed to awaken while they were gone.

The ratio of one in every five people were Elementals had never sounded so dangerous to him before. Exchanging a look, Zack and Cody nodded to each other before they launched themselves towards the Elementals that surrounded them. Wave after wave of attack came from the young teens without any chance of slowing. _Uriel must've really been doing a good job with getting these guys geared up for war while we've been gone. _Zack lifted his sword up into the air and blocked the shots of steel that were headed towards his face and turned around, slashing it as a rush of fire shot off of his new clothes as well as his sword. He couldn't help but grin a little when he noticed the shimmering of the air around him, much as it did on a hot summer day. It proved they had grown as Elementals since they had first awakened and would continue to grow if it meant doing what they were destined to do.

He ducked out of the way of another attack, noticing that the spear that had been created his time was double ended and the thirteen year old boy that was attack him was really gunning for him this time around. Wincing whenever a barb of the spike on one end managed to get past his defenses and strike him, Zack continued to fend off the boy, but didn't fight nearly as hard as he could. This was a war, he knew that, but there was a big part of him that felt for the boy wondering if what was happening to him was what he truly wanted or if he had been taken over in some way.

"What are you doing?" Cody grunted as he fell against Phantom's back and brought his staff up sideways to fend off an attack. He then grabbed the older boy that was fighting against him by the shoulder and flung him to the ground before turning around and grabbing onto Zack's shoulder. His eyes bore into his older brother's and Zack blinked as if he had just been slapped across the face. "These guys are trying to _kill_ us! If you hold back…then they might just do that." He continued to tighten his grip against Zack's shoulder. "These guys aren't kids anymore; they're working for Uriel and will do anything to let him win."

Zack sucked in a deep breath and nodded. It was something he hadn't really thought about before, how there were people that chose which sides of the war they were on. There were going to be some that knew just as soon as they were born they were destined to fight for the side of good, just as there were the ones that knew as they were born they were destined to fight for the side of evil. Then there were those that had no choice against the matter.

Either way, he couldn't wait and try to weed them out when he got the chance; he had to take the moment when it came to him and fight no matter who or what got caught in the way. Besides, he was their age when he first awakened and drafted into the war he hadn't know and he fought the way he was supposed to then. He could do it now.

"Blaze of the Heart!" He called and his sword erupted in a wave of fire. He grinned, feeling the power of the Element Stone course through his veins and through his body. He could practically feel his eyes turning to allow the red color that came through whenever he allowed himself to tap into the power. "Fire Slash!" He slashed his sword up the face of the Elemental coming towards him; snapping his spear in half and catching the skin in front of him.

He closed his eyes as he felt the warm spray of blood splash against him. Turning around, he watched as Blazen shot a strong punch into the chest of another Elemental and winced as he heard the sound of cracking rib bones. He watched as the Elemental fell back, sitting hard on the ground as if he had just been merely pushed, then slumped forward onto the ground. Turning in the other direction, he watched Cody and Phantom make quick work of the other Elementals surrounding them. They fell lifelessly to the ground as well as Cody waved off his staff, droplets of water falling to the ground.

They only had a few seconds of reprieve before Zack found his arms bound by his sides by a thick vine. He heard Cody's surprised cry of pain and watched as he was suddenly zapped by a jolt of electricity. Then there was a an invisible force that shot Blazen and Phantom off their feet and crashing to the ground, causing Zack to hiss at the scratches that appeared on his own arms and legs as Blazen skidded against the ground. Then the invisible force crashed into Zack's back and he felt himself slung forward onto the ground before the vines lifted him up and he crashed against the ground before being lifted once more and crashed on the ground again.

He rolled onto his back and managed to get himself up to his knees as Cody was hit by another bolt of electricity and was blasted off his feet once more, crash landing on the ground beside his older brother. Zack flipped his hair out of his face and looked to see where the vines were coming from and found a Brazilian man he had never seen before standing across the street, smirking towards him as the vines came away from Zack and returned to the shape of his hands. Besides him was an Asian man with spiky hair, electricity crackling over his body. And as the fire Elemental watched, more and more Elementals came to surround the two that had originally fought them. The group continued to get larger and larger and Zack finally came to terms with the fact that there certainly were more Elementals around than he had originally thought.

"How many of them do you think were forced to awaken?" He murmured, staring at them.

Cody shook his head. "How many of them do you think are on his side, I believe is the better question."

The Fire Elemental nodded. He turned towards Blazen who exchanged is glance and disappeared in a flash of red light back into his body, Phantom doing the same with Cody. _This is definitely something we weren't prepared for. _"We've got to get out of here. Right now, we're not going against them, we're looking for Uriel and trying to stop him."

"You're right," Cody agreed. He paused and looked over at Zack as if he had just seen him for the first time. "God, I never thought I was ever going to say that. The world must _really _be ending."

That was a very sobering conversation topic. If Boston appeared to be the remnants of an atom bomb had managed to go off overhead, then what was happening with the rest of the world? Uriel having the Element of Life had the ability to snuff out a life every chance he got even if he just found it amusing. Knowing there was someone out there like that made his blood boil. He was the one that caused his parents to run out of Boston and leave their sons behind, he was the one that inadvertently caused the deaths of Max and Koto, he was the one that had caused all of the pain and suffering the he and the people around him had felt basically since they were all born.

The fact he could do it with so little regard made him angrier than he ever had been. All of a sudden, Cody whacked him on the arm before grabbing onto his elbow and shooting straight up into the air, wings sliding out of his back in a second. Zack dangled above the ground as Cody continued to rise higher and higher from the ground.

"What's the matter with you?" he finally asked once they were high enough away from the threat that had come in front of them. Zack gave him an odd look, sliding his own wings out form his back and allowed himself to hover through the air, soaring towards the Tipton.

"What do you mean?"

"There was fire around your hands," Cody said, staring at him.

"So?"

"So." Cody turned and gently floated in front of his brother, staring him directly in the eye. "It was black fire, Zack."

* * *

When they arrived back at the Tipton, Zack immediately found himself feeling safe as they stepped through the front doors. Whatever sort of shield or protection had been placed around the hotel was definitely working. Stepping inside, Blazen turned into his small form and immediately flew over towards the other guardians that were sitting, waiting with their wards.

"You're back," Maddie said as soon as they appeared back through the revolving doors at the front of the hotel.

Zack barely glanced at her before noticing how quiet the lobby of the hotel was. He was so used to the extravagance and majesty that the hotel had brought him every day he walked through the lobby. Now, he had seen just how badly things had gotten. The chandelier situated at the center of the room had pieces missing, the front desk was cracked, the flowers on all of the tables wilted brown and black, and the small vase that sat on the table, the one Mr. Moseby did his best to keep from breaking, lay in pieces along the floor.

Running his hands over his face, he dropped into the seat next to her and pressed his face into his hands. He couldn't take it, seeing everything he had been afraid to see, having it all manifested in front of him was more than he could bear. The stark difference between how beautiful, magnificent, and mostly peaceful the Element World was struck a chord with him he never thought would ever hit him. The silence that surrounded him showed his friends were feeling the same way.

"Hey," Maddie said quietly to him. She looped her arm through his and rested her chin against his side. "Is everything okay?"

"No," he admitted. "Though I didn't expect it to be when we got back." He lowered his hands and looked at his friends with a steady gaze. Cody, who was sitting on the couch on the other side of the lobby rested his head in his upraised palm, arm resting on the back of the couch. He kept a steady gaze on Zack, his eyebrows furrowed together as if waiting for him to sprout a second head. "I thought things would be the same, where it wasn't a lot of destruction, where we could recognize things. But then…we get back and it's like…"

"It's like we never existed in the first place," Noah remarked, managing to covey exactly what Zack had been thinking. "Like…like there had never been anyone here to protect the city…or Earth in general."

Zack nodded and pointed at him. "Guys…while we were out there, when we were going after those Elementals…they were all young. But then there were these other two guys that attacked us…and even more. Uriel has a bigger reach than we originally thought. We had to have been gone longer than we thought. He has this whole entire army of Elementals at his disposal and they're really strong." He shook his head. "I don't think we can do this on our own."

"So what do you propose we do?" Julius asked from Maddie's other side. He was leaning forward, hands pressed together between his knees.

"Have all the help we can get." His eyes flashed over his friends. _I wonder what that's about, _Zack thought. He could see Julius chew his lower lip as he exchanged a glance with Tapeworm, who cleared his throat and made a show of avoiding anyone's gaze if they turned his way. "There have to be more Elementals out there, those that are on our side. I mean, if there're that many on his side…"

Aaron sat up straight. "What about the ones that we used to know? The ones that fought alongside us a couple of years ago?" He nodded earnestly. "And I'm sure the guardians can figure out or sense if there are any other guardians around."

"That is if they've all managed to awaken," Crystal pointed out, absentmindedly running her fingers through her little brother's hair. "We don't know, for sure, if that's the thing that manages to make us all tap into our powers. It's not what happened with me."

"There are probably loads of reasons for it," Reihu added, stretching his arms over his head. "But that's not the issue. Right now we have to figure out what to do next. We're not going to be able to stay here in the Tipton for too long." His eyes shifted back and forth for a moment. "Before we left for the Element World, Core told me there was going to be a war between the two worlds and I guess this is what he meant." He paused for a moment. "Core told me about this place in Canada, a safe place he was headed if things got too bad out here. We could all go there. I'm sure that's where he, Christian, and Diamond currently are."

"And do what?" Riley frowned. "Wait for Uriel to squish Boston like a bug under his bloody thumb?"

"Well, at the moment it's not like we have many options," Zack said. _Other than to become the thing I never wanted to become. A killer, just like Uriel is. _He could feel the blood drying against his front and was suddenly given the image of the Elemental falling over with lifeless eyes in front of him once more. It wasn't the first time he had killed someone, but it was the first time he had done it so easily, all because of the powers he had finally managed to tap into as if turning on a light switch.

"Don't worry, Zack." Maddie gently rubbed his arm. "We'll come up with something." She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek, something that would have caused him to melt on any given day, despite having his own girlfriend and her being in a relationship of her own.

"Maddie's right," Patrick said with a bright smile. He always was one that tried to be positive whenever things weren't going well for all of them. "We've always managed to come up with something before, we'll do it again. We're not ones to roll over and just take it."

"Yeah, well, at the moment it doesn't seem like we have any plan other than going to Canada and if that's the case, we're going to need a good night's sleep." Zack stood up and pulled his shirt away from his body, feeling it starting to stick to his front from the drying blood. "I doubt there are any planes running lately and our guardians have a long way to fly. I'm going to go take a shower if the water is still running."

Cody suddenly sat up straight. "I hope it is," he remarked. "Because I'm not going to be the one to help you."

Eyes widening ,Sydney bolted upright as well, knocking SpiritSaru off of his lap and onto the floor. "Me either!"

Laughter escaped Zack's lips as he used his enhanced speed to race to his suite on the twenty-third floor. It was the first time he had laughed in a while and while it felt foreign to him, he was grateful for it. Anything that would keep his mind off of the thing he had been afraid of since falling further into the Elemental work they had been doing. At fourteen when he first awakened, he had thought it was the coolest thing to have the same sort of powers he read in all of his comic books. Then the reality of things came around and he watched people die, people he had been close with and people that were hi enemy and he realized just how serious it was.

There had been a time where he wished he could give up his powers because of the responsibility and the horror that seemed to come along with it. It was something that crept into his mind every now and then when he allowed himself a chance to relax. Being forced to fight those that were only just in their teens, having been on the other side of the fence, he was scared. How many more child soldiers were there going to be? How many more senseless deaths and lives cut short before it all ended?

Would he be one of those deaths when all is said and done?

Standing under the—thankfully running—shower head and allowing his negative thoughts to swirl down the drain along with the dirt and grime that had managed to accumulate over his body. Closing his eyes, he let out a long breath, breathing back in the steam that swirled and wafted around him.

/_This is something you have to deal with for a long time, Zack/ _Blazen reminded himself. /_Whether in a war or not, there's going to be people that don't deserve to have their lives cut short, lost in the balance. What matters is how you respond to it./_

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Zack agreed. He tilted his head back and allowed the water to run over his forehead and down his back. "Blazen, is it possible to give up Elemental powers?"

/_To give up completely? No. Once you've awakened, you've awakened. However you have the choice not to develop your powers./_

"What happens to those that don't? I know if you…if you die so the Elemental is reborn, what if it's the other way around? What happens to the human if the guardian dies?"

/_Then the Elemental becomes significantly weakened./_

Nodding, Zack scrubbed his hands over his face and reached out, turning off the water. He stepped out of the tub and held out his hand, moving it up and down the length of his body, immediately drying himself off. He quickly got dressed and left the bathroom, moving back through the suite he stopped as he reached the couch, noticing a flash of red catch his attention. He walked over to it and picked up the fabric, realizing it was a hoodie, similar to the one that Cody was wearing. Letting out a light sigh, Zack's eyes furrowed together as the one thought he tried not to entertain came to mind.

His parents had been captured after they left.

Taking off his own tattered shirt, Zack quickly switched into the white wife-beater and red hoodie that was left behind. Shoving his hands into the front pocket he turned towards the window and looked out over what was left of the city.

Despite the grievances, despite knowing a lot of what happened could've been avoided, Zack knew it was time to think about what would happen after they succeeded in defeating Uriel. It was part of the prophecy, part of their destiny, he had to remember that.

Besides, he had a new piece of motivation; no one messed with his family and would get away with it.


	41. I'm alive?

CHAPTER FORTY

* * *

Cody gritted his teeth in annoyance as he reached up his hand and grabbed onto Phantom's tail, pulling him out of the air. He placed his guardian into his lap and held onto him between his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you that flying in planes isn't going to kill you?" His guardian snuggled against Cody's hands, eyes wide and darting around.

"He's right," Dricer, who sat on Crystal's lap, agreed. He walked in a circle around her legs before curling up, his tail brushing against his nose. "This is probably one of the few times where we don't have to carry them around ourselves. If we weren't able to find an airplane that would've allowed us to fly—"

"—the airplane didn't _allow _us to fly," Crystal corrected her guardian. "There aren't any more pilots around to do that. Noah is using his powers to get us off the ground and to steer us towards the place Reihu told us about." She leaned her seat back and closed her eyes for a moment. "If it weren't for the fact that he and Pat have played so many flight simulators, I'd be panicking."

A light snort escaped Cody's lips. "It takes more than playing flight simulators to know the intricacies within successfully taking off, piloting, and landing a plane." He brushed his hair back from his face and thought for a moment. "Not to mention understanding weather patterns and sudden wind change."

Crystal opened her eyes and looked over at Cody. "If that's the case, then I'm sure Noah can handle it. I mean, considering his element is part of that." She gazed at him for a long moment. "Besides, SilverTatsu and ThunderTatsu are flying alongside the plane just in case Uriel comes to attack us or whatever. At this point, I wouldn't put it past him if he blew up the entire Earth even if it took him down too."

Frowning, Cody didn't respond to her statement. It was true that he certainly had nothing to worry about. They had all gotten a chance to get some well needed rest while at the Tipton. Not to mention being able to take a shower, change into some new clothes, and get something to eat. The first time in a while they had been able to relax in some sort of way. Despite knowing Uriel had the opportunity to do a sneak attack while they had all been sleeping, the beds from the Tipton hotel had nearly knocked them out in all of its comfortable glory. Waking up the next day, feeling groggy despite refreshed, they had immediately set out to get to Canada as soon as they could. There were no attacks, nothing getting in the way once they arrived at the airport. However it was then they were nearly stopped. Not only were there more Elementals than they had ever thought would come against them, but they hadn't put up much of a fight either.

_I'm sure Uriel is just watching and waiting for us, _Cody thought as he crossed his arms over his chest. Around him, he could hear the light hum of the plane as it soared through the sky, accompanied by the light snores from his friends. _It isn't like anyone to let us go straight to where we need to go. Not unless he's aware of the abilities we managed to get from the Element World. What sort of connection does he still have there? Mother Nature did mention that he was one of the ones that were supposed to protect the world before he tried to take it over for himself. Working hard to take control of the Kingdom, even going as far as to try and banish the royal family from the throne. _Then Cody gently shook his head. He hardly knew anything about the Element World and yet was already making assumptions that the kingdoms worked the same ways as they did in his world.

"What?" Hearing Crystal's voice once more, Cody turned to her and raised his eyebrows in question when he noticed her looking at him. "Your face is scrunched up, like it always does when you're thinking or something or are studying. What are you thinking about?"

"Why Uriel let us go," Cody said slowly. He brought his hands up to his face and gently rubbed at his forehead, he was starting to get a headache. "If everything is what we're supposed to believe it is, and Uriel had been the one that, truly, did cause all of us to get started with this. Why would he wait so long to attack us?"

"You might be over thinking this, Codes."

"I don't think so, Tally." Cody shook his head. Closing his eyes once more he concentrated on the unexplained things that had happened to him over the years. Why he felt a sense of dread whenever he had to go down to a dark basement, or a dark area in general. What had caused him to be so attached to his blankie for so long. Why Zack had always been so terrified to sleep at their grandparents' house for extended periods of time. Why Cody never liked being alone for extended periods of time as he was growing up, feeling there was something that was trying to get to him. It hadn't made a lot of sense at the time, but it all added up in that aspect. Uriel had clearly been following them for a long time, probably very aware of their powers long before they had been aware of them themselves. "This is all calculated. Maybe to be sure there's a stronger fight for him. Or else he wants to be able he can stop the prophecy before it even starts."

"And allowing all of us to be able to get to the next step in our powers does that because…?"

"Because he would…" That's what caused him to hit the proverbial brick wall. It was the only part of the explanation that hadn't made sense to him. What would Uriel get out of it if he had waited for them to get to the top level of their abilities? It'd be easier for them to defeat him wouldn't it? "Because he would be able to see that the prophecy is something that he could legitimately stop? I haven't gotten that far with my idea yet."

"Okay, so what does that mean for what Father Time said?" Crystal reminded him. He waved a hand, motioning for her to continue. "About going back to the time that his all started? Remember, you and Zack were the ones to figure it out before we even went to the Element World, that it all started, essentially, when you and Zack awakened. Back when we were fourteen and…call me crazy but even though all of this happened. I don't think time travel is possible."

_Time travel may not be the answer, _Cody thought, but didn't say it out loud. _No one ever said anything that you actually had to travel through time. And having the powers of that Element…if you can even call it that…may not have anything to do with it in general…Maybe it has to do with the idea of manipulating time rather than traveling through it?_

The thought continued to move through his head as he allowed himself to fall asleep. His head was empty of dreams or images he could remember, but he was restless all the same. As if he was aware of being constantly watched, much as he had been when he was young. But he was in an airplane, surrounded by his friends and all of their guardians. If it was something that was going to happen, would they all be able to feel it? His question was answered only moments later when he heard a deep guttural growl behind him. Immediately waking up—not because his nerves were shot, but because of the intense stab of fear he had when hearing the growl—he turned around to find Reihu crouching down in his seat, eyes focusing on nothing as he continued to growl. Cody watched as his teeth elongated into a sharp canines, eyes shifting into cat-like slits.

Phantom then struggled against Cody's hands before managing to wiggle out of his grasp and shoot up into the air, immediately turning into his beast form. Blazen did the same seconds before there was a large bump of turbulence, causing the plane to skip in the sky. Cody shot his hand out and grabbed onto Crystal's, holding onto it tightly. He then turned to his other side to make sure Tapeworm was okay, and found that he had grabbed onto the arm rests so tightly that roots, much like from the plant of a tree, encircled the ends.

"I'm okay," he said as he noticed Cody's gaze. He licked his lips then added, "I've still got the Oracle Element, don't worry." As if to prove his point, he reached down and patted the buttoned up pocket on his cargo shorts.

"What was that?" Aaron demanded, tightening his grasp on his arm rests.

"That couldn't just be turbulence," Bailey said. She reached to the satchel that that was slung around her neck and held it against her chest. The Book of Esme sat inside, Cody could see the spine of the book through the flap, and noticed that it glowed softly. A golden glow much like the lights on a Christmas tree in a darkened room, waiting for Santa to come. It was a beacon of hope in a way and he knew if it fell into Uriel's hands they had absolutely no way of being able to defeat him. "There's no way."

"Never felt turbulence like that before," Zack agreed.

Even from where his brother was sitting at the back of the plane, Cody could see the flicker of flame move through his eyes. It must've been something new after having received the element stone; for he could see his brother's eyes slowly turn red after the flame went by. His mind immediately went back to the black flame that surrounded his brother's hands.

That was different than any of the other flames they had seen. When Sydney or Julius used their Element with fire attacks the flame was always a solid color of reds, yellows, and oranges occasionally turning green, blue, or purple depending on the heat or the power encased in it. Whenever Riley used her powers there was always a black outline against hers, going back to the original of her DarkFire powers. When Zack used his, the outline of his flame was either white or dark red, sometimes moving through both colors as the seconds passed. But this time around the flames were completely black as if he had somehow managed to tap into some dark magic that changed the flames to the likeness of the darkness of space. There was nothing different about Zack, not in his face, in his demeanor…but still the sudden change in the flames that had appeared when they had been standing against the Elementals under Uriel's control and he felt an instant sense of unease.

Zack hadn't made any indication that he knew where it had come from, and that was worst part of it. If it was something he was able to develop…then what did that mean for Cody's powers?

"No way," Sydney agreed. He held out his hand and his new staff appeared in it, shining in its brilliance. Despite the low ceiling, he turned his staff as upright as he could and the jewel at the tip glowed, seconds before his eyes turned completely white. Cody jerked back in surprise and shock, having not seen his powers exhibited like that before.

Then everything around them had turned white, just for a second, before they got a clear image of Uriel. He was somewhere within the camps he had created, staring up at the sky with a smirk on his face. And he continue to watch the sky, as if he was able to look right into the plane that neared Canada and wherever they were directing themselves towards. And as they watched, Uriel lifted a hand and waved it aside. There was another large bump that moved throughout the plane, jostling the Elementals and their guardians throughout. All of a sudden, the sound of a scream filled Cody's head and he brought his hands up, slapping it over his ears.

There was another bump, this time accompanied by a large explosion and he soon found himself falling. For a moment, he was sure if it was still part of the vision that Sydney was showing him. But then he twisted through the air and found his gaze pointed towards the ground that approached as rapidly as it seemed that he was moving away from it. He twisted back around and watched, jaw dropping slightly when he saw the remnants of the plane they had been on. It broke apart in midair, as if thrashed by a three year old with a tantrum; he could see smoke and fire from the back portion of the plane. And yet, as he twisted and turned through the air, he couldn't find his friends.

…

..

.

Sucking in a strong gasp of air, seconds before hyperventilating, Cody pushed himself upwards. As he almost sat up straight, his forehead cracked against something, causing him to regain his breath as he let out a cry of pain and grabbed onto the lump on his forehead.

"Oh, he's awake!"

Before he could come to terms with his bearings, a hand was placed against his forehead, forcing him back against the pillows and his eyelid pulled open. Then there was a bright light in his face and he turned to the side, squeezing his eyes shut to get away. He should've known things would come to this; that his childhood fears of aliens coming to invade Earth—thanks to Zack's insistence of watching an alien movie marathon—had come true and he was part of the captives that were being experimented on.

"Cody, calm down." The voice was familiar to him, though he was sure he had never heard it before. "We're just trying to help you. No one here wants to hurt you." Pushing past the pain, he finally turned into the feminine voice. "As a matter of fact, I'd say this is one of the safest places you can be, eh?" Turning his head back towards the voice, he blinked rapidly as the light was moved over his face time and time again. "Looks like he's coming back, Diamond."

"If that conk on his head didn't knock him out even further, I'm inclined to agree."

Bringing a hand up, Cody shielded his face from the light and closed his eyes for as long as he thought it would take for the lights and bright colorful swirls to go away. Then he opened his eyes and focused on the faces hovering above him. He immediately recognized Diamond, as he gave a small smile and a nod in greeting. Then his eyes shifted to the other face above him and he managed to smile a little, recognizing it.

"Crys..." he whispered to her.

The face then illuminated in happiness. "So you're the boy that my daughter keeps talking about. She may not have said anything to me, personally, but I've heard enough to feel like I've known you forever. It's good to meet you, Cody."

Cody's eyes widened almost immediately as he took in more of the face above him. It was very much like the facial structure of his girlfriend, but at the same time he could see how it was different. A little more slender with a nose that turned up a little bit more than Crystal's. "Mrs. Manning?" He managed to ask. He brought his fingertips to his forehead before slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. Kristin and Diamond stepped back, Diamond swinging his shotgun behind his back with the use of the holster that was strapped to him, and watched as Cody took in the sights around the room.

It was all...clean, technological, and far more advanced than anything he had seen in his life. Truthfully, it reminded him of the setup of the Mannings' basement. Though he was sure the kinds of things that were in the computers and the like were far more useful than the things they had back there. Thought at this point, he realized, most of that would've been destroyed by now, as was most of Boston.

"Where am I?" He asked finally. His nerves managed to become calmed when he noticed his friends all lying on cots around the room. Tilting his head back, he found that he had hit himself on a low hanging cabinet and brought his hand up to his forehead once more, feeling the bump that continued to throb along with his pulse. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Cody, before you have a heart attack, I need you to drink this." Diamond turned back to Cody with a fizzing, green liquid in a beaker. The Water Elemental grimaced as he took in the appearance of the liquid, and then took it in his hand. The sound of a door opening across the room, caused him to turn around and stare, eyes widening as the others gathered into the room. "Mom. Dad. Mr. Moseby…" his words trailed off as he caught sight of the friend and family he remembered from Boston standing before him with others. "What? I don't…" He looked down at the beaker in his hand one more. "I think I need a stronger drink than this."

"Please." Kristin reached out and tapped the bottom of the beaker, pushing it closer towards his mouth. "It's strong enough, but not the kind that you're looking for."

_I don't think anything is to get rid of seeing zombies for the first time in my life. Elementals, guardians…that I can handle. _Cody brought the beaker to his mouth and tipped his head back, downing it in one gulp. It burned against his lips and throat, much like a warm carbonated soda did, and once he swallowed, he found the pain in his forehead to be immediately gone. As if someone had pressed a button that was to take away any and all pain from him.

"Now that that's done," Diamond said. He reached up and scratched the back of his neck. "I'm sure you all will have a lot of questions. But the first thing I need to tell you is…" he leaned towards Cody as Kurt and Carey moved across the room and grabbed onto him. "You were never on a plane."

In the middle of hugging his mother and father, he grabbed on too tightly, startled by what he had just been told. To some degree, he surmised, he should've been used to the idea that not everything was as it seemed. But it had all seemed so real. He didn't need to question it, just by looking at Diamond's face he could see that he was telling the truth. "That doesn't make any sense," he remarked.

"Cody…Cody you're squeezing me too tightly," Kurt gasped. "Daddy's happy to see you, but he needs to breathe." Then Water Elemental finally let go of his parents and dropped his hands to his lap. He turned the beaker back and forth in his hands before sniffing the remnants of the liquid he had swallowed.

"Oh, Zack." Carey moved over to her other son and gently ran her fingers through his hair as he slept soundly. "I'm glad you're okay." She turned back towards the others in the room. "Is he going to wake up soon? How come the others are still asleep?"

"The reach Uriel had on them appears to have been stronger than we anticipated," Christian commented from where he stood with Core. Core nodded in agreement before going to the beakers and bottles set up on the other side of the room and started to mix things together. "But its better that we have everything ready for them when they do."

"What do you mean we weren't on the plane?" Cody asked, turning the attention back to him. He placed his hand on his chest as he turned and hopped down from the cot. He stumbled slightly and Kurt grabbed him around his waist before lifting him back up once more. "We were sitting on it when it broke apart."

"You only _thought _you were sitting on it when it broke apart." The smaller man that was with them walked forward via the use of a cane. He came forward until he was a few feet in front of the blond teen. "Uriel has more powers than any of you are used to, boy. The sooner you realize that the better. He projected an image in your head of what was to happen to you if you were to fly on that plane, thankfully, we managed to get you're here in time."

"Get us here?" Cody's eyebrows furrowed together. "Like… you teleported us?"

"That's not the word I would use, hey, but it works." Cody turned his attention towards the Australian accent and watched as the man that spoke to him dropped the beaker he was twisting back and forth in his hands, causing it to smash against the ground. The woman next to him let out a light sigh before stepping over the mess and walking over to Cody.

"You have to excuse my husband," she said with a very slight hint of an Australian accent as well—obviously picked up from her husband and having lived in the country for a while. "As much as he is an outdoorsy guy and manages to be good at nearly everything he tries, he also has the tendency to be clumsy. So watch your feet." She placed her hand on Cody's shoulder and smiled down at him. "It's nice to meet you, Cody, finally. You and Zack have really come a long way. I'm Renee and this is my husband, Reed."

"Cheers." Reed lifted a hand in a wave before walking over to Cody and shaking his hand with gusto.

"And my grandfather, Akito."

Cody's eyes narrowed as the Japanese man nodded at him. "Have we met before?" He asked the older man. "I don't know…it seems like I know you from somewhere." The man didn't respond and Cody turned his attention back to his friends. "Mr. Moseby, Esteban, London…what happened to you guys? How long have we been gone?"

"A couple of months now," Mr. Moseby explained.

Cody's mouth dropped open before it closed once more. That's what he had expected. There was no way they could've gone to the Element World and not have some sort of ramification to Earth. It was one of his biggest worries, really. Now he was worried whether or not he was starting to actually lose his mind. He was going to need a really good psychological evaluation once all of this ended.

"It's been a long time," Esteban explained. "So much has happened within in Boston. Oh, little blond peoples, it's been so bad without you around."

"He's right," London agreed. "There have been so many people that've…that've died so far. So many people captured. Not to mention they made off with all of my jewels and my money."

"Who knows what they're going to do with that," Cody said somewhat sarcastically. It was a valid question, though. What would Uriel need with that money if he had already managed to destroy most of the city? He scratched the back of his neck. "Please, if you're not going to tell me what's going on until after everyone wakes up, tell me that we're at least in Canada."

"You're in Canada, sweetie," Carey replied. "And you're safe."

Part of the heavy weight managed to lift from his shoulders. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to completely get rid of it until Uriel was dead, but at least he was able to stand upright for the most part.

"Do you have the Oracle Element?" Akito asked. Cody then nodded and motioned over to Tapeworm and the man walked over and patted the teen's pockets before pulling it out. It shone in his hand and he went over to Core, who twisted it back and forth in his hand before going over to a contraption in the other side of the room. He loaded the Oracle Element into what appeared to be a scanner and walked back over to Tapeworm. Pressing his finger into the trigger, he waved the scanner over Tapeworm's forehead then took a step back as a bright light started to shine within the room.

Bringing his hand up to shield his face, Cody found that the light seemed to continuously penetrate his hand before going to his eyes. The light continued to shine throughout the room and as he lowered his hand, he found a familiar figure forming within the light. His eyes widened as he recognized the stance of the form.

Then the light faded and he gaped in shock.

"I…I'm alive?" Max Montgomery asked, pressing her hands against her stomach. She looked p at her friends, brushing her braided pigtails behind her ears. "I'm…" her words failed her as she looked around the room before locking her eyes with Cody. Her face lit up and she hurried towards him, grabbing onto him. Cody hugged her tightly, his words failing him as well.

Through everything he had seen it was one of the few things that managed to render him speechless.

Because it was then that Cody knew what they had to do to defeat Uriel.


	42. Aeon

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

* * *

Bailey's eyebrows furrowed together. She could feel herself starting to wake up, but her body wouldn't allow herself to get to that moment. There was something holding her back. Or someone, she couldn't ignore that possibility. Nothing with Elementals had become normal for her, there was nothing that was potentially off limits to be an explanation for whatever it was that was keeping her down.

Maybe she was coming more in tune with the world around her, with the world she hadn't had any thoughts about a few years before. There was something she could feel moving through her, some sort of energy she hadn't felt before. It wasn't until Mother Nature had entrusted her with the Book of Esme that she truly started to feel there was something she could do to help in the crusade to save the world. Knowing that she had the spirit of some sort of Medium entrusted within her, or that she was a reincarnate of some sort. It had to have been the reason that she was able to have Geneva and Gattaca protect her so easily.

"It was what we were training for before Uriel came in to the kingdom," Gattaca said to her. He crossed his arms as he floated through the empty white space around them. Realistically, Bailey knew they were in some sort of limbo—between awake and asleep. She could feel her body lying on a sort of cot just as easily as she could feel herself sitting on the ground in the white space.

Geneva floated to her other side, long brown hair flowing behind her as she did so. "We were instructed to learn how to use our abilities to protect the medium that was…the sort of guide for Mother Nature and Father Time."

"Aeon," Gattaca said. "That was her name."

"Was?" Bailey repeated.

"During one of the battles that had been called upon the Element Kingdom by rebel forces, Aeon disappeared. Mother Nature and Father Time sent out as many searches for her as they could mange, but were unable to find her. Despite her disappearance, we were instructed to continually work on our studies so that we could protect her if she ever came back to the Kingdom."

"And I'm her reincarnate?" Bailey asked, tilting her head to the side.

It wasn't something she was incredibly surprised about at this point, if that were the truth. Though she couldn't help but find that there were still doubts in her mind. What could she do if she didn't have any powers at all? She couldn't fight, she couldn't defend herself…and as much as she fit in with the rest of the group, she wasn't an Elemental and that showed.

When he had first demanded to know what was going on with Zack and Cody on board the SS Tipton—which seemed like such a long time ago, although it had only been two years—she knew, in a way, she was on the outside looking in. This was something they had been dealing with since before she met any of them and continued to deal with, and she was still learning things that were coming their way. Not only that, but she continuously found herself amazed by the strength of their power time and time again.

"Not her reincarnate more than that we're sure you _are _her," Geneva explained. She held out her hand and the Book of Esme appeared flat on her palm. It was a very big, very thick book and while it was heavy for Bailey, it didn't seem to be an issue for Geneva to hold it up. She passed it over to Bailey, gently placing it in her lap.

Sighing, Bailey took the book and ran her hand over the leather cover. Opening it, she stared at page after page of…gibberish. It wasn't gibberish exactly, but a language she had never seen before. It reminded her of Arabic, but the way the letters were created weren't exactly the same. Let alone the way it was stylized on the page, sort of the way the Japanese had it, reading up and down. But it also appeared to have to be read from right to left as well.

Resting her chin in her hands, she found the pages on the book suddenly shimmering. Her eyes widening, she tilted her head to the side and watched as the letters started to shimmer and wobble around until they came into focus as if she was reading English. But the letters and phrases were still in the language that she had never seen before in her life.

"You're starting to realize your true potential," Gattaca said to her. "You can read it can't you?" He lowered himself to the floor until he was standing next to his sister, the two hovering over Bailey as they watched her continued to turn page after page by the second.

"Sort of," Bailey said slowly.

And she truly sort of could read it. Some pages came into focus slower than others did, but she was getting the general idea. Not only was the book filled with spells and the prophecy that they were following—she checked the back of the book to be sure it truly was there—but it appeared to be filled with the history of the Element World in general.

There were logs of long battles and wars, times of change, at time where the kingdom seemed to be running out of food and morale, and everything that made it grow to be what it was in the present time. Bailey was surprised to find that the Element World seemed to function much like Earth did, but there were many, many more years that stretched on.

_How long had the Element World been in existence? _She asked herself as she continued to turn page by page. _There's so much history here that we've never heard about before. _She paused when he reached a point in the book that was so familiar. Glancing over the notes that were left on a page:

-Fire and Water Elemental awakened

-Air and Earth Elemental awakened

-Surge of darkness

-Weakness has been brought upon our people. Famine is running rampant and there is little to nothing being produced. Scavengers have been sent out to make a deal for food. It will take some time for them to return. Until then, there will be a protective shield put up to ensure our safety.

Bailey noted it as the days Zack, Cody, Max, and Tapeworm had been awakened. If that were the case, that was the start of the prophecy, which explained darkness the surge of darkness. They had already figured out that Uriel had started his sense of power over them all once the four of them had awakened; but if that were the case and the date was right along the top of the page, it meant that Earth and the Element World existed on two different planes of existence…which meant the time they spent there, compared to Earth, had been shorter.

_Who knows what we're going to return to, _Bailey thought, gently shaking her head as she closed the book along her lap. They had seen the destruction of Boston once they returned; they had witnessed the attacks that shot their way before Zack and Cody decided to deal with it themselves, and that was just Boston. Who knew what else was going on in the rest of the world. _What will the world be like after all of this? There's already been proof of what's been going on across the US when we were being filmed before going to the Element world…is society going to be different now?_

Closing her eyes, Bailey ran her hands over her face. This was all so confusing. No wonder Zack and Cody did their best to keep it all a secret. Suddenly she felt a warm hand run down her arm and she opened her eyes to find her mirror image standing in front of her. For a moment, Bailey stared at…herself…in disbelief, then she took in her appearance. The form of her that was in front of her looked exactly like her, apart from her garments that matched those that Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time donned, but there was also a sense of extreme confidence exuding off of her.

"Aeon?" Bailey asked.

"That's me," Aeon replied. She reached out her hands and took Bailey's in hers, pulling her to her feet. "It's nice to finally meet you, Bailey. Though I guess I shouldn't have to say 'meet' as you are me in many ways."

"I don't understand," Bailey admitted.

"The night of your birth was the night that I left the Element World," Aeon said. She brushed her hair back out of her face and thought for a moment. "This is something that may make things even harder for you to understand, though that's not to say that any of us understand what goes on in our own world as it is." She motioned towards Geneva and Gattaca, who nodded in reply. "I am you, in the aspect that we share a lot of similar traits as well as experiences. Though we are two separate people even if we do have a portion of us that is forever connected.

"I left the Element World as I was aware of the prophecy that was bound to come into existence. It isn't a coincidence that you, Zack, and Cody were born when you were and I knew it was coming as the Book of Esme told me months before it happened. I knew I had to leave to protect you from the danger that was to come your way."

"Uriel?" Bailey asked.

Aeon nodded. "Uriel would not stop at anything to be sure he was able to get the power source he needed to take revenge on us in the Element World. That was what he was meant to do when he had been targeting you all for years. The 'boogeyman' that Zack and Cody continued to see as they were young, was Uriel trying to capture them to take the power that had been dormant inside them. If he managed to get any of that power, he would've been, in many ways, unstoppable."

"What does that have to do with me?"

"There's power inside you, too, Bailey. Power that can't be handled by anyone else. The sort of power that can only steadily improve over time. Geneva and Gattaca's power is what you've been using whenever the time came. It hasn't been the power that you have nestled within you. The Book of Esme can aid you in tapping that power. I shall help as well." She grinned at Bailey. "I've been protecting you as much as I can for as long as I can and I shall continue to do that. But you have to come into your own and realize that power for yourself."

Bailey shook her head, unsure of what to say next. Unsure of what to _do _next. It was so much to go through. She had been protected ever since he was back in Kettlecorn and didn't know anything about the world other than what she had studied in her textbooks. Her dreams of seeing the world had become actualized when she got onto the SS Tipton and had become actualized in many ways since finding out the truth.

But this?

Hearing what she had hoped to hear?

It was more than she thought she could handle. Thankfully she was sitting on the ground or else she was sure she would've passed out and fallen smack on the ground.

"I've been watching you your whole life Bailey, you've certainly grown into such a lovely young woman," she said. "Someone who has the same qualities that I'd like to see in anyone. Confident, intuitive, inquisitive, smart, dedicated and so much more. It is those things that makes you worthy of being able to open and read the Book of Esme. Everything that's within that book will aid you in defeating Uriel once and for all."

"What will happen to him then?"

That was the one thing that seemed to elude the group for as long as she could remember. Uriel had managed to survive year after year after year. She understood those that lived in the Element World didn't necessarily age in the same way those on Earth did. But what did that mean for death in general, especially for the one that had the power of life and death. Was it possible for him to be killed? Or would that negate his power in general? Could he bring himself back to life?

"You have to understand Uriel never used to be like this, until he felt he deserved to be within the royalty of the kingdom," Aeon explained. She appeared sad, turning on her heel and starting to pace back and forth. "As a matter of fact, we used to work together to keep them all safe before…something changed his mind. Maybe understanding his power? I don't know. Next thing I know, he's turned and tried to kill them all. If it weren't for my book, Uriel could now have power over the Element World."

"And I can stop him?"

" You and Zack and Cody?" Aeon turned back to her, a determined gleam in her eye. "Once everything is explained to you. Once you all understand your true potential. You'll know how to defeat him and restore both of our worlds. Once you wake up."

Bailey's eyebrows furrowed together. Once she woke up. She thought she was already awake. Speaking to the three Elemental beings had taken her away from Earth, away from the reality that she was lying on a cot somewhere. But as soon as she said those words, she could feel herself slowly starting to get pulled backwards. Geneva, Gattaca, and Aeon watched as Bailey was pulled back, the edges of her vision starting to turn black. The further back she was pulled, the blacker and darker things became until she couldn't see more than a foot in front of her face.

Then there was a glimmer of light.

A light at the end of the dark tunnel.

And she smiled.

Bailey woke up.


	43. A Look Into The Past IX

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

* * *

"Crystal, come on, we have to get going now."

Crystal strolled into the living room as she pulled a backpack onto her back. She looked behind her as Christian walked behind her, holding onto her jacket. "Isn't Daddy coming with us?"

Kristin smiled and smoothed back her daughter's hair. "I already told you, sweetie. Your father is meeting us there tomorrow. And we have to get going now or else we'll miss our check in time." She leaned down and gave her a knowing look. "And you know how your father gets when we don't get somewhere on time." Crystal giggled as she looked over at her father, whose irritated glance was perfectly mixed with amusement so that neither could tell what he would say next.

Finally, he shrugged and said, "I'm sorry that I like to be punctual," and handed his daughter her coat, which she quickly shrugged into.

"And I'm sure it's killing you that you can't be at the conference until tomorrow," Kristin added with a bright grin. "But no, you have to make that deadline." She continued to playfully berate her husband as she walked around the living room, gathering her things. "Which _always_ makes you crazy and grumpy. Deadlines are so limiting and binding when people need to be free of constructional limitations."

"Have you always been such a hippie or am I just noticing it?"

Crystal laughed again before turning to her Dad and giving him a big hug around the wait. "Bye, Dad!"

"Bye Cryssie, I'll see you tomorrow." Christian then went over to his wife and gave her a kiss. "I should be there in the morning; I don't have a lot more that I need to do. Drive safely."

"I will." Kristin smiled and gave him another kiss. "I love you, honey. I'll see you tomorrow." She turned back to her nine-year-old daughter and took her hand. "C'mon, let's go before your father remembers that his deadline is within the next hour." With that, the two hurried out of the house with their bags and packed up their car.

Climbing into the passenger seat, Crystal leaned over and waved to her father as he stood in the doorway of the house, watching them leave. Kristin beeped the car horn twice before backing out of the driveway and heading out onto the road.

The roads were as dark as the sky, headlights cutting through the darkness like beacons of hope. Crystal sat in the passenger seat, watching in fascination as the leaf-bare trees became illuminated and passed by in the darkness over and over again, trying to keep her eyes on the foliage as they whizzed by, before disappearing into darkness once more. When that became boring for her, she turned to her mother and watched as she gently bopped back and forth, singing to the pop song on the radio.

"Mom, what's this conference for again?" She asked.

"Your father is getting an award for his accomplishments in his field," Kristin explained. "And he's giving a speech on what he learned."

"Boring," Crystal declared.

"I know you think science is boring but your father really likes it, and we'll get to stay in a really fancy hotel with a good pool and room service." She reached out and tickled Crystal on the ribs and stomach, causing her to squirm and twist away, shrieks of laughter cascading from her mouth. "So that'll be fun."

"I guess."

With nothing to do more than sing to the radio or sleep, Crystal brought her hand up to rest on the car door and closed her eyes resting her cheek in her palm. She had only been asleep for a few minutes, or else, it felt like that until she felt something strange with the car. It was the same feeling she got when sleeping on the way back home and approached the house; the feeling where you know you're about to be back in comfort. This time, however, he felt nothing but fear rumble through her stomach.

And she didn't know why until she was suddenly jolted awake as the car swerved to the side.

"Mom?" She asked.

The confused call for her mother was out of her mouth only seconds before the car swerved in the other direction. Then there was a loud explosion from behind her that made Crystal jump and scream loudly. She didn't get the chance to close her eyes, blocking herself from the horror that unfolded in front of her; the car shot into the air and rolled over and over.

Everything went black.

* * *

Renee smiled as she let go of her baby's hands and watched as he toddled across the carpet. Sydney made it a few steps before teetering back and forth, falling to the ground. A few feet away from her, Julius laughed and leaned forward to pick up his baby brother just as Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah raced through the room, waving foam swords over their heads.

"No running in the house," Renee said to them, despite knowing it wouldn't make a difference. As Patrick and Noah leapt up onto the couch and started to jump up and down, whacking each other over the head with their swords, Rhuben sat down on the ground next to her eldest brother.

"Can he walk yet, Mummy?" She asked her.

Renee smiled, laughing to herself as Riley leaned over her back, wrapping her arms around her shoulders with a cherubic smile that would never come again after that night. Renee reached up and patted her eldest daughter's hand. "Not yet, Rhuben. I think he may still have a while to go before he can make one lap across the living room."

"But its beauty," Julius said, turning Sydney around so that he was sitting on his lap, yet holding him far enough away so the drool falling from his mouth wouldn't land on him. "He's done three more steps today than this arvo."

"Does this mean we can take him to the beach soon?" Riley asked. She started to bounce up and down on her toes in visible delight. "I think he'll want to get in the water this time! Soon we can teach him to surf!"

"I think it'll be a bit longer before we can do that, Cherry," Reed said as he walked into the living room from the kitchen, holding a camera up to his eye. Patrick and Noah jumped down from the couch and hurried over to their father, latching their arms around his legs and sitting down on his feet. "But we can go to the beach for sure." He turned to the side and put the camera onto the coffee table before leaning down and picking up his six-year old twin boys into his arms. "What do you think? You want to go to the beach tomorrow?" He asked them.

"Yes!" Patrick shouted into Reed's face, causing him to smile and jerk his head back.

"I want to build a sandcastle," Noah added with a bright smile.

"Well, we should make sure we have all of the stuff then." Julius handed Sydney back over to their mother before getting to his feet. "C'mon, let's check the closet." Riley and Rhuben immediately followed their brother and seeing them leave, Patrick and Noah shimmied out of their father's grasp and raced after them as well. Soon the sound of thudding footsteps raced up the stairs, accompanied by shouting and laughter.

In his mother's arms, Sydney cooed and stood up, putting his arms around his mother's neck, reaching up a hand and gently tugging at his ear. Renee sighed as she stood up, holding Sydney to her chest. "Looks like your son is tired," she commented to Reed.

"Sorry?" He gave her a funny look "Since when is he _my _child, I thought he was _ours?"_

Giving her husband a knowing look, Renee moved Sydney aside and revealed a dark spot on the front of her shirt. "Since he thought I was toilet." Reed laughed loudly and took Sydney from her arms. "Please change him and put him to bet, he's tugging on his ear again."

"No worries. It'll give you some time to rest."

"In this house? Rest is a myth."

Reed smiled and kissed his wife on the forehead before following his five children up the stairs. He looked over and laughed when he saw his kids at the hall closet, pulling out piles of towels and beach toys as they went. Turning into the baby's room he placed Sydney on the changing table and quickly changed his diaper before going over to his crib and lying him down. Sydney looked up at his father with his big blue eyes and smiled, dimples appearing in his cheeks, before he yawned, eyelids closing.

Reed turned on the baby monitor and closed the door behind him before going back down to the living room. He laughed when he spotted his wife already curled up on the couch, her head resting on a pillow. "You look aggro, Renee."

"Thank you for pointing that out, Jack," Renee mumbled in reply, her eyes still closed. "I just need a few minutes rest and then I'll be good to go."

Reed didn't get a chance to respond, an explosion drowned out his voice.

* * *

Zack pouted as he sat on the end of his bed, gently kicking his feet back and forth. Cody, who sat on his own bed, hugged his blanket to his chest as he whimpered quietly. Rolling his eyes, Zack laid down on his side, turning his back on his brother. It wasn't that he didn't want to comfort him, he was upset too, but it was nothing to cry over. They were just moving again.

Again.

How many times were they going to move? When was going to be the last time? Why Seattle? Sure, their grandparents lived there, but they only went to their grandparents' house when they were in the area; when their Mom had something to do. Then they would go wherever else she was needed. Over and over again.

"It'll be fine," his Mom had said as she smoothed back his hair off his forehead. "We're going to be living with Grandma and Grandpa now. Actually living there. This is the last place we're going to move to, I promise."

"But I don't want to move there," Cody complained. "The house is scary, Mommy." He hugged blankie tighter to his chest and turned his blue-green eyes up to his mother, silently begging her not to let them pick up and move away again.

Zack quietly watched their mother as she let out a light sigh and turned away, a troubling expression on her face. He didn't want to move as much as Cody didn't want to move, they were only nine years old and barely made any roots anywhere. He could see on his mother's face they didn't have a choice.

As Zack laid down in his bed, staring at the wall and listening to Cody's whimpers, he tried to keep tears from falling out of his own eyes. He didn't want to go back there as much as Cody didn't want to. Whether or not it was a ghost, he knew there was something in that house.

Something that was trying to get to him and Cody.

And it scared him to death.


	44. This time it was real

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

* * *

Riley's eyes fluttered open and she was immediately aware of another presence in the room. Not only did she very quickly detect a hint of smoke—something she didn't outright react well to within the use of her own powers because of the memories that conjured—but she also didn't sense there was any sort of danger around her.

As a matter of fact, it was the first time as far as she could remember that she felt completely safe. The feeling that had been ripped away from her years ago.

Recognizing that feeling, she shot up, nearly knocking herself off of the bed and onto the floor. She hesitated for the slightest second before turning to see who was in the room with her and her friends and family. Within that second of hesitation she was suddenly overwhelmed with all of her dreams and wants that she had felt over the years. Things she had managed to push down to the very back of her mind, almost to the point that she had forgotten they even existed, suddenly came flying back to the forefront and as the realization hit her, tears immediately sprang to her eyes.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to demand why they had sat back and allowed so much stuff to happen to her family without letting them know they were always there. Actually, she wanted to punch something. Anything. When her temper flared to the point she couldn't control it, when her emotions got the bets of her, she wanted nothing more than to cause chaos and destruction. It was self-debilitating for sure, it hurt a lot of innocent things around her, but it helped her at the time. Keeping things in for so long made her a volcano, pun intended. But she still did it, and now she wanted to explode on the closest thing to her. She didn't want to put anyone in danger, but she wanted to explode. It would truly be the first time in almost ten years that she allowed herself to do that.

Hot angry tears that melted away to cool, sad ones within the few that dripped down her face. One after another they fell down her cheeks until she was consistently wiping them away. She was glad she started to cry; the warped, shimmery, silvery view of her parents distorted in front of her for that mean they came to her and enveloped her in their arms. She didn't have to be the one to move across the room and try to give them a hug and have them ripped away from her once more.

No.

This time it was real.

"You know, for a bunch of zombies, you all look pretty good," Patrick managed to joke.

"I wish we could've let you know before, Cherry," Reed said to her, gently rubbing her hair as Renee wiped away her tears in the gentle, comforting grasp that only a mother could manage. "It would have made things a lot easier, but we were only thinking of your guys' safety, yeah?"

"Mummy!"

Sydney, who had just woken up, leapt off of his cot and dashed over to his mother, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing his face into her stomach. Renee smiled and knelt down, pressing a kiss to her youngest son's cheek and ran her hands through his hair. As the others woke up, Julius, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah immediately noticed the presence of their parents and hurried over to greet them as well. Then as Crystal and Aaron woke up, Kristin's attention was brought over to them as well.

It was Tapeworm's cry of surprise that gathered the attention to the others that were in the room. Max smiled over at him before the two were in each other's embrace, holding onto each other tightly in obvious fear they'd be separated once more. It was then Riley realized the scent of smoke wasn't the familiar acrid smell she had become used to. Her eyes shifting around the room, she spotted a tall blond figure leaning against the wall, trying to keep attention away from him as he leisurely smoked a cigarette.

Catching her eye, he dropped it to the ground and crushed it under the heel of his shoe.

"You can't expect me to sit back and watch while you guys have all of the fun, can you?" Koto asked.

"Yes, yes, this reunion is all very heartfelt," Akito murmured as he walked into the center of the room with the aid of his cane. "You shall have plenty of time to continue with said festivities…if you manage to come back alive." He cleared his throat and turned towards Zack, Cody, and Bailey. "I have it on good authority that you all are the ones that are to take down Uriel once and for all." He reached out and ran a hand along the back of the fox that sat by his side. "I also have it on good authority that you've all managed to figure out who you truly are meant to be."

"Who we're truly meant to be?" Zack repeated with a raised eyebrow. He stood between his mother and father with Cody on his other side with Carey's hand on his shoulder. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Akito turned towards the Martin family and nodded. "Your mother, father, and I have managed to have them realize their past lives. I believe you may have realized them as well." He cleared his throat. "Not only is it that you've tapped into a sense of power that has managed to make your fire black, when it should have the consistencies with those that align with the light, but your moment of worry about your abilities as well as whether nor not you felt it was something you wished to continue with…has elements of darkness within those dark thoughts." He then turned towards Cody. "Your brother, on the other hand, had a different thought of your abilities since your start. While you found it to be cool and slowly moved through the motions of realizing how real and horrifying it could be, Cody was the one that realized the seriousness of your situation as soon as you two were awakened. Even then, he continued to find nothing but a sense of pride and dare I say patriotism when the time comes. Much like those that revel in the light."

Bailey then gasped loudly, causing all eyes turn to her. She clasped her hands against her chest before an expression of determination slid over her face. "That's what Geneva and Gattaca were telling me. That I'm the reincarnate of an ally of Mother Nature and Father Time….Aeon."

"You're correct," Core agreed. "And as such, your mother and father have found that they have a special connection with the Element World as well."

"Yeah," Riley agreed. "The trait of being an Elemental usually come from the lineage of the mother." She motioned to her own mother, who nodded. "It's passed down through that part of the family, which is why even though Mum doesn't have a power, we have a family guardian." The fox beside Akito bowed its head before lowering itself to the floor.

"So you're saying that Carey and Kurt are the reincarnates of Mother Nature and Father Time?" Aaron asked slowly. It wasn't completely surprising he was the first to figure it out, his connection to the Element World, while not completely known to those around him despite the instances of power he's managed to show, was enough to help them out of stick situations from time to time. "And that means that Zack and Cody are reincarnates of Geneva and Gattaca."

Cody frowned at the news. "Which one is Geneva?"

"You are," Zack said without a second of thought. The statement made Cody's frown deepen.

"Why do I have to be the girl?"

"Have you seen your hair?"

"If that's the case then that means their power combined is the only thing that truly will stop Uriel," Sydney piped up. He brought a hand up to his chin and started to pace back and forth as he thought about it. "Theirs and Bailey's as she is a reincarnate of a strong power back in the Element World."

"Aeon was a medium that worked very closely amongst those that were considered royalty in the Element Kingdom," Christian explained. "It's the kind of power that Uriel was after and could very well be the one that could take them down as he's just as strong. It's no wonder he tried to kill Geneva and Gattaca when they were so young, eh? While your power is strong, Core and I have started up a project all of us had started back in the day before we had to go into hiding."

"What is it?" Tapeworm asked. He still had his arms around Max and while his gaze was focused on the wall behind him. Canis, who had woken to see her mistress alive and well, was now hugging onto Max's leg like a little child having just been reunited with her mother. "If there's anything we can do to make sure this guy is defeated, we'll do it."

"Well, considering the media coverage we've been getting as of late as well as those within the government that may still be against what you all are doing, I can't imagine that the thing we have created will go over well," Diamond said, his gruff voice punctuating the silence that came from Core, Christian, Reed, Renee, and Kristen. "Not to mention if it doesn't work the way it's supposed to, it will cause fallout no one could anticipate."

There was another punctuated silence that shifted throughout the room.

"You're building a bomb," Patrick said.

Riley's head lifted and she turned towards her brother with a cocked eyebrow. _A bomb? _ What was a bomb going to do other than create massive destruction? The energy from the bomb alone would more than likely destroy Boston even more than any of their attacks could do. Through their own attacks they had control over where their attacks went or made them stronger or weaker when going towards their opponent for what was needed. But with a bomb it was true that the fallout from it would be worse than they could ever imagine. Not so much the fact they would be responsible for it, but because of the nuclear fallout that would come out of it in return.

That is, if the bomb they were to use was going to be a nuclear weapon as opposed to the modified weapons they had managed to make so far. If anything was going to come out of this it was either going to be the satisfaction that everything was finally over, or the start realization things had only just begun.

"We're not _building _a bomb, we've _built _a bomb," Reed corrected. With a wave of his hand, he motioned the group of teenagers towards the other side of the room where there was a metal container. He pressed a combination of buttons on the side of the container and lifted the lid in one quick movement. He must've noticed the jerky movements of the teens, afraid it was about to go off in their faces. "There's a specific way you can have this open up and do what it is it's meant to do," he reassured them. "It won't suddenly blow up."

"What's it supposed to do then?" Cody asked. "If it can only open up a certain way."

"Well, considering the information we've managed to get from the Anima Nano Energy Particles over the years…" Reed trailed off with a wistful sigh. Riley glanced at her father, suddenly able to feel for him, her own feelings aside. They had been on two sides of the same coin; not being able to interact or speak to each other for years at a time but holding out hope for the chance to see each other again. "It has helped us figure out what it is about human DNA that has been able to merge with those of Elementals. Of course there are still many things we don't know for sure, but from what we understand with our research this bomb will halt Uriel's abilities when it goes off." He bobbed his head back and forth. "It'll be pretty aggro and we don't know how long it'll last. Unfortunately, whoever is in the vicinity that has the same sorts of abilities, an Elemental or a guardian, will have their powers halted for that time being as well."

"Maybe there's something in the Book of Esme that can help?" Bailey suggested.

"Or," Koto suggested. "We take the bomb, use the double mint twins over here,"—he motioned to Zack and Cody—"to knock this Uriel guy far enough away from wherever any of us are going to be, and blow him sky high."

"That'd only work if we were sure there was no on in the vicinity," Max pointed out. "Who knows who we'd have caught in the crossfire if we do it randomly?"

"Hopefully the rest of his fleet," Rhuben commented. She crossed her arms over her chest. "If that were the case, don't you think it'd be worth it? We get rid of his lackeys and get rid of him at the same time; it's a win-win."

A solemn silence fell down around the room as the reality of their situation came in. They wanted to stop Uriel at all costs…but at what costs were they willing to go? Were they willing to allow any more innocent people to die just so they could get rid of one person in one blast? Would they even be innocent? It looked like they were the only ones that were going to be able to stop this guy; everyone else was on Uriel's side, taking down as many humans and whoever else stood in their way when they got the chance. Even Mother Nature had found a way to turn things around with what she wanted by taking the Elementals back to her World and showing them their destiny with those powers.

"So where can we get something good to eat around here?"

All eyes turned towards London who had a wide-eyed innocence about her. Either she was doing her best to keep the spirits of everyone up or she truly had let her time with Uriel manage to shock her so badly she was forgetting they were in a fight for their lives. Riley had actually expected Patrick to say it, as he always had a way of making them all laugh when he felt things were getting _too _serious. But now he had the same expression on his face that Rhuben had, showing at least the rest of her family were on the same page when it came to Uriel's end.

There was a reason they hadn't mentioned it to the rest of their friends in the first place.

"Yes, London, there's plenty to eat," Carey said to her. Her eyes moved around the room. "I'm sure there's plenty of time to get acquainted with everyone again. It's been a while." She reached out and gently ran her fingers through Zack's hair before reaching out and hugging Cody to her chest.

"That's a good idea," Diamond agreed. He cleared his throat and started to move out of the room. "This room has been set up to house our sleeping arrangements. I feel it may be a good idea to do some tests on them one last time; to be sure their energy levels are up to par when it comes to what they're going to be up against. If you're hungry there's plenty to eat in one of the rooms down here. I can't imagine there's much left as we hadn't planned on staying here so long. But as you can tell we can't always plan for everything."

Zack, Cody, Max, Tapeworm, Bailey, Carey, Kurt, Esteban, Mr. Moseby, London, Koto, and Reihu left the room so that the families that had been broken for so long could get some time to themselves once more.

Riley brushed her hair back out of her face and turned back towards her parents and gave a small smile as she noticed Sydney continuing to hug onto their mother, obviously afraid to let go again. He had only been one year old when everything had gone up in a burst of flames and a blast of energy. And while there hadn't been many lasting effects of the absence of two people he didn't really remember as it was, being the only one of his siblings that didn't remember them was harder for him than the others could imagine. He had done a great job of hiding it as not to upset his siblings who did his best to take their place, but the way he continued to hold onto Renee showed it hurt deeper than he had ever showed.

"I'm sorry none of us could tell you what was going on," Renee said. She reached out and smoothed Riley's hair back from her face before smiling lovingly at her children. Her voice was as they had already remembered, with a slight hint of the Australian accent she had managed to learn from her husband as well as years spent living in the Oceanic region. "I'm sorry we all had to sit back and watch you go through everything without knowing we were there watching the whole time."

"You couldn't tell us why?" Crystal asked, her voice breaking as her mother reached out and hugged her daughter before turning to Aaron and kneeling down in front of her. Aaron took a step back then his features screwed up in confusion before he stepped forward and brought his hands up to gently feel around her face.

"They couldn't reveal ourselves to you in case we brought you in even more danger," Christian explained. He took a deep, painful breath. "I hadn't known about it, either. If I had….maybe things would have been easier this time around."

"What are we supposed to do with the Oracle Element now?" Julius asked his parents. He gestured towards himself and out the door. "Tape and I were going to use it to…" he trailed off and reached out, grabbing onto his father and holding onto him tightly. That broke the dam for the rest of the Jackson-Manning family as Reed and Renee were encompassed by their six children and Christian and Kristin were free to hold onto their two children.

Pressed against her father's side, Riley didn't know how to feel. She was a flurry of emotions that she was glad she had been able to control years before; after years of having subdued her hurt, anger, and sadness now she was expected to have forgotten all of that and be able to live peacefully once they were returned. To forget the fact that Uriel was still stalking them and waiting for the perfect time t strike them all down before they could even blink?

What was to happen if he went after them _again _after finding out they weren't dead?

_If he doesn't already know, _she thought.

/_Mistress, if I we may be so forward…/ _DalFang said. Seconds later there was a bright flash of light and their guardians all appeared in the room around them. Noah reached up and ran his hand along SilverTatsu's neck. "Our guardians wanted to introduce themselves to you. They've been working really hard to keep us safe."

"I'd hope they would," Kristin said. She reached out and ran her hand along Dricer's back. "It's funny, I feel like I've met you before," she murmured to him. "Or else I've always felt you around, taking care of my daughter even before she awakened." She let out a long sigh, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Unfortunately, Uriel has been plaguing our lives longer than any of you could ever imagine."

"Is that why he's always been going after us?" Noah frowned. "I thought he was just going after Zack and Cody."

"There are lots of things he's going after that we haven't figured out yet, Zack and Cody aren't just it," Renee reminded him. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and motioned for her grandfather to come join them after giving their group some to themselves. "Your Great-Grandfather here, he's faced Uriel himself years and years ago. Whatever he's after is much more than Zack and Cody though the prophecy is shows that they along with the help of Bailey can defeat him."

"So what about the Oracle Element?" Patrick asked.

"I think I know what we can do with it," Sydney said slowly. He let go of Renee and turned to Aaron, placing his hands on his shoulders. "But I'm going to need your help, of course." Aaron smiled and nodded back at him.

"This has been a very long day," Akito murmured. "You've all been through a lot. You should get some rest, get something to eat." He tightened his grasp on the head of his cane and gazed around at all of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. "It's nice to see everyone together once more, let's hope it's not the last time it'll happen. I have faith that those boys, Zack and Cody, can do what we haven't been able to do before. I have faith in all of them and their friends."

Reaching out, Riley ran her hand along DalFang's back and watched as he stretched forward like a dog before lowering his behind to the floor, spreading out his wings. "I want him dead," she said to her parents. "I want all of this to be done."

"Don't worry…" Christian turned towards the bomb that continued to sit quietly in the corner of the room and sighed. "It will be. Soon." He reached out and put his arm around his wife's shoulders and hugged her to his side before making his way out of the room.

Riley sighed as DalFang moved to his small form and perched upon her shoulder. He turned to look at her, his eyes narrowing. "You know snuffing you emotions will just make it harder to control later," he reminded her.

"Better than the alternative, yeah?" She said seconds before noticing how badly her hands were shaking. Instead of anger as she was usually accustomed to, it must've been shock and surprise of seeing her family. It would probably have been a bigger reaction if there wasn't the threat of imminent death. Otherwise she probably would've blacked out from the sheer amount of emotions that would've steamrolled her.

"So how does it feel?" Zack's voice came from behind her. She turned around and crossed her arms, eyes narrowing.

"Your part bird and yet you come in here like a freaking ninja, mate," she remarked. He smiled. "As to your question, I don't even know how to feel. I'm trying not to focus on it. It could be taken away again. For real this time. Though I think I would be used to it happening to them rather than one of the others." She shrugged. "But we have Max and Koto back so…I guess it wouldn't be too bad." She studied him. "How does _that _feel?"

Zack let out a low breath as he ran his hands down his sides before resting them on his hips. He chewed his lower lip before pressing his lips together. "I don't know," he admitted. "I tried not to think about it. I mean, at least with you guys it was someone else at fault, but this time around it was mine, so…I don't know." He twisted his mouth to the side. "Can I at least say the thing I'm afraid of most is actually having to meet your parents."

Now Riley's face screwed up. "You've faced a guy that's wanted to capture you to take away your powers, survived a bomb explosion, a sinking car, countless daily fights, falling out of an airplane while unconscious, and knowing you're marked for death because of a prophecy and you're afraid to officially meet my Mum and Dad."

"Yeah, me and the parents of my girlfriend don't go together."

"You're an idiot."

"You know, it makes me hot when you put me down like that." Zack grinned.

She matched it with a grin of her own. "Why do you think I do it?"

* * *

**A/N: **Whoo! Next five chapters are the last. I'm actually going to miss this story for the most part but I plan on taking another break from writing Elemental stories after this, to continue with _Help Me, Save Me _and figure out other stories I want to do.

For time/speed I took out the longer scenes with Max and Tapeworm's reunion as well as those within the Tipton hotel. While they'll be touched upon in the last five chapters, the scenes will be shown in deleted scene one-shots after the story is over.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	45. I have someone I need to have a word wit

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

* * *

Uriel frowned as he removed his hands from his forehead.

He could sense it. The time had finally come for things to get interesting. _No matter, _he thought as he brought his bony fingers through his hair. _It's nothing I haven't faced before. I have come across many that were much stronger than these kids and this time around, I have more power on my side. Should be fun, nonetheless. _A cruel smirk curled at his lips seconds before a manic expression came to his eyes. Turning on his heel he lifted a hand and watched as the floor in front of him started to wriggle and writhe beneath him as he lifted himself up off the floor.

His Shadow Hunters continued to pile on top of each other by the hundreds as he instructed them to. They opened their jaws, yellow eyes glowing as bright as the sun, teeth as sharp as razor blades. As they continued to pile they hissed and scratched at each other, enticing their bloodlust even more than Uriel could imagine. That would bode well for him.

Lowering his hands he glided up through the ceiling until he was hovering over the city. As far as he could see there was chaos and destruction, smoke billowing out from smoldering buildings as far as the horizon, he could see those under his control doing their patrols for other Elementals and their accomplices as they had managed to come out of his grasp. As it was, he already had enough of them that had their lives taken away to give him a sense of security in some point, but he knew not to underestimate them.

This was Mother Nature and Father Time he was talking about; the ones that had managed to banish him from his world a lot easier than he had ever anticipated. Anger stirred through his belly like a boiling pot of water. If they were going to kick him out of his home, just for trying to make it a better place for all of them to live, then he could show them the mistake they made. He was just as strong as they were and if he had to create the place for them all to live in harmony then he could do that elsewhere.

If only they hadn't gotten those meddling Elementals in the way. _Like a prophecy is going to stop me, _Uriel thought, his eyebrow twitching upwards. _It hasn't before and it certainly won't now. _He tilted his head back and pointed his hands towards the sky, allowing dark clouds to come in. He had to set the mood for his guests.

They were going to be arriving soon.

* * *

Bailey stretched her arms across her chest then stretched them above her head. Turning around, she picked up the book of Esme and ran her hand along the front. The tension surrounding them had changed overnight. Now it was as serious as life or death…with herself and the rest of her friends unsure of what the outcome was going to be. There was a great chance one or all of them would die, no telling who it was, but the chance was still great. The thought of never seeing her parents, her grandparents, her sisters, or her farm every again was worse now than it was when she was on the SS Tipton.

On the SS Tipton she was still filled with wide-eyed wonder that couldn't be rivaled even by her greatest thirst of knowledge. Once the school year ended she knew she would be going back to Kettlecorn and start her life on the farm all over again before going back to the SS Tipton. This time…this time she knew she may not make it back to Kettlecorn or her family and it didn't bother her so much. Not when she knew she was potentially giving up her life for the greater good of the world.

_Besides, by now all of Kettlecorn may have been destroyed, _she thought. Continuing to run her hand over the leather bound book she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. _If there's any way you can help me through this fight, Aeon, I'd greatly appreciate it. _She took a deep breath, wondering how she had managed to make her life get so twisted and turned. She thought she was just going to go on the SS Tipton to get an even better education that Kettlecorn could ever give her…

…and then she ended up putting her life in danger, fell in love with someone, broke up with said person she fell in love with, found out she was a reincarnate of sorts from the Element World, and was now willing to give up her life to keep the rest of the world from losing their lives as well.

If she had told herself she would do all of that when she first stepped on the SS Tipton…she probably would've been a bit excited, honestly. To know she was destined for more than the school, to help people in ways she could never imagine was her life's goal. Now if only she could keep confidence within herself to save everyone.

"Bailey?" She turned around and hugged the book of Esme to her chest as Zack and Cody came into the room behind her. The twins had identical serious expressions on their face and Bailey knew it was time to go. Time to see if they were able to defeat Uriel once and for all. "Are you ready to go?"

"No," she said honestly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this. But I know I have to do this." She took a deep breath and looked back and forth between the two boys. "I bet you two are ready to go. You've been doing this for a long time."

"Yeah, and I'm ready for it to end," Zack remarked, crossing his arms over his chest, a light snort escaping his lips. "No more waiting to see if I'm going to have my head knocked off my shoulders just by stepping out the front door."

"Please, that happens to me on a daily basis because of the stench from your socks," Cody muttered. "And I'm still alive. I think you're going to be fine." He patted Zack on the shoulder before turning back to Bailey. He reached out and gently tapped the back of the book that was clutched to her chest. "Make sure you have a tight grip on that, we can't have it fall into Uriel's hands."

"I have it, don't worry," Bailey said. She nodded firmly. "Do you have the Oracle Element?"

"Diamond and the others will hold onto it before we need it, just so _that _doesn't fall into the wrong hands either." Cody licked his lips for a moment before turning his gaze to his feet. "Look, Bailey, in case something happens…I wanted to apologize for everything that happened. I know you didn't really understand what we were doing and the decisions I had been making, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you when you tried to talk to me about it."

Bailey sighed and gently shook her head.

"I should have apologized a while ago and maybe things would've worked out better between us but—"

"—I think things are fine just the way they are," Bailey interrupted him. "I wouldn't have figured out what I am…how I can help…how I'm more than just a little farm girl that wants to see the world." She gave him a small smile, one that used to drive him crazy. "So what things didn't work out between you and me? I'd rather you as my friend and someone I know I can put my life in his hands than anything else." Cody returned her smile and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. Bailey hugged him back, doing her best to keep her tears at bay. Once the hug ended she moved onto Zack and hugged him just as tightly as she hugged Cody.

Zack could be selfish, obsessive, money hungry and annoying, but throughout the past few years she had seen how seriously he took his responsibility as an Elemental, as part of the prophecy, and as the 'leader' of their team. If there was anyone else she would trust with her life other than Cody, it would be Zack without a doubt.

"I don't know if we'll ever figure out how to get this stuff to work, but we have no choice but to try," Zack said once he let go of Bailey. "Uriel is stronger than anything we've ever faced or may ever face but we can't stop until something is done to defeat him."

It was then the butterflies erupted into Bailey's stomach, causing her to tighten her grip on the book once more. This was it. They were about to take their first steps into what could be the rest of their lives, which admittedly could be quite painful. She wasn't so scared about death in general as it was the way of life, but how painful it would be before she was given peace was the part she was scared about. At least now she was getting the chance to say goodbye.

_I see it is what's troubling you the most, _Geneva said through Bailey's thoughts. _I can't imagine how you humans feel about the sort of things._

_Those of us that live in the Element World are not afraid of such things, _Gattaca said. _We know we all serve a purpose and once that purpose has been served it is time for us to leave. Guardians, Elementals, and Humans alike. However there are those that have rebelled against the Element Kingdom for that fear alone and are now considered traitors amongst our Kingdom._

_Are we traitors too? _Bailey asked.

She could hear chuckling move through all portions of her head; from Geneva, Gattaca, and Aeon. _No, child, _Aeon said to her. _Earth works differently than the Element World does. Your morals and values are slightly different than ours. Do not worry yourself about it._

What else was there for her to worry about?

The question along nearly made her laugh out loud.

Instead, she focused Zack and Cody with the most confident smile she could muster. "If we're the only ones who can do it, then so be it. We have a prophecy to fulfill and we're the only ones that can do it. If I back out now then that means everything we've ever done, our friends have gone through, would have been for nothing. And I can't be responsible for that."

A grin then slid across Zack's face and for the first time in a long time, he felt as he did when he first gained his powers. Powerful, invincible, and ready for a fight. Cody's smile matched his own and the confidence the twins managed to exude washed over Bailey as well.

She was ready to see what she was made of.

* * *

Cody sucked in a breath as he, Zack, and Bailey met up with their friends on the roof of the compound Christian and Diamond had commandeered to finish their project. The tests had been finished, they were at their highest levels of energy and power, and truthfully, the only thing that would stop them from defeating Uriel was themselves. All of them appeared just as prepared as he was, but he could see there were some instances of worry and fear that would flash over them every now and then.

Especially over Max's face. She had only just been resurrected after having been dead for so long…the danger that she was running into once more was real and he could see it worrying her. Even Canis, who stood at her side, rocked back and forth on her heels, chewing at her foot. From where they were within the bunker explosions could be heard, each low rumbling causing the guardian to grab onto Max's arm, as if she were seconds away from losing her once more.

Koto, on the other hand, had an expression of indifference on his face, the same expression he always held when Cody and the others had encountered him before. This time, however, he could see the wolf's hand shaking as he lit a cigarette and stuck the unlit end into his mouth. His death had to have had a bigger effect on him than he had originally thought. Cody's eyes shifted over towards Core as he stood behind Koto and Reihu and blinked in surprise. As the man noticed Koto's movement, a flash of something…flickered over Core's face.

Cody wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like guilt, or maybe regret. Reihu had mentioned something before about how he had, in a sense, seen Core as his father throughout the work they had been doing with WingzCorp. Maybe Koto felt the same way, with the two of them having a sense of loyalty to the man despite his actions towards the Elementals. But even they found everything wasn't as it was seemed when Core's actions had been discovered.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Cody asked them, knowing there never truly was a way for anyone to be ready for things like this. Once he received confident nods in response he let out another deep breath. "Good, so we all know the plan. Thanks to the scanning system that Christian and Reed created it will let us know through our watches if a portal to the Element World opens up once more. As well as being able to let us know how many of his cronies are closing in on us."

"Then we'll split up into two groups," Zack added. "Bailey, Cody, Maddie, Julius, Sydney, Aaron and I will go straight for Uriel. Max, Crystal, Tapeworm, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah will fend off those that are trying to keep us from getting to him. Koto and Reihu will work with Christian, Reed, Renee, Kristin, and Core to keep Project ATOM safe until it is needed as well as monitoring our progress as things go along. Diamond, will help wherever he feels it's needed."

There was the sound of the action of a gun being pumped and all eyes turned towards Diamond who sat in the corner of the room, holding onto a shotgun. His eyes flashed as an amused smile came onto his face. "I think I'll find a place to be useful."

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Mr. Moseby demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh…sit back and don't get in the way?" Aaron said as if it were obvious. Cody was glad that the young boy couldn't see or else he would've taken a large step back from the glare and growl the hotel manager sent his way.

"You can't expect us to sit and watch all of this happen," London declared, eyebrows furrowing together. "We've done that before, we even got captured, there's something we can do." She thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I know! I'll call Daddy and get him to bring out my private fighter jet."

"You own a fighter jet?" Kurt asked her.

Carey lifted a hand. "You know how to _fly _a fighter jet?"

The hotel heiress blinked innocently. "Doesn't everyone own one? You never know when you'll have to defend your assets." She then rolled her eyes. "And I don't fly it; I have my Daddy's personally military men to do it for me." A bright grin flashed across her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for confirmation that she was going to be a big help in their fight.

"Is it pink?" Maddie asked slowly.

"Actually, it's more of a salmon color…"

Esteban slowly leaned over towards Carey, Kurt, and Mr. Moseby, keeping his voice low. "Let's hope her Daddy doesn't suddenly want to run for President or else we'll all be in trouble." The three adults nodded before he turned back to the group of teens and gave a salute. "Wherever you want me, I'll be glad to be of service to my little blonde peoples."

"Please just be safe," Kristin said, clasping her hands together. "That's all we want from you right now. To be safe."

Akito nodded and hummed in agreement, his voice rolling in his chest. Beside him, his fox nodded before sitting down with his hind legs, silvery eyes gazing along the elementals, as if trying to give them every secret to defeat Uriel it could think of. The Japanese man reached out and ran his fingers over the fox's head before snapping his fingers and the fox disappeared in a flash of silver light that wafted over the heads of those in the room before disappearing completely.

Cody sucked in a deep breath through his nose. _We can do this, _he thought. _There're so many more of us than there is to him. We've come a long way all these years and we know what to do and what not to do to get the upper hand. We've come back from so many fights we didn't think we could ever win. We can do this with everyone on our side._

"Syd, can you teleport us out of here?" The water Elemental asked him. When Sydney gave him a funny look he insisted. "You know, like you did out of the plane?"

"Oh, that wasn't me, that was Aaron," Sydney commented, gently moving his cousin forward. "We combined our powers, but he's the one that can actually teleport." He gripped Aaron's shoulder hard. "Do you think you can do this?"

"I've always been ready."

Sydney nodded back before turning to his mother and father and wrapped his arms around their waists, giving them a tight hug. Cody knew what the hug was for, just in case they didn't come back. But he didn't think he'd be able to do it with his own parents, he knew he would break down and not allow himself to go. He had already lost them once before because of them finding out about his powers, he couldn't imagine what would happen if he or Zack were killed or if his parents were taken away in turn. He'd go crazy, lost control of his powers; try to obliterate anything standing in his way.

/_Channel that anger into your fighting, Cody, and you will become stronger than ever/ _Phantom said to him. /_Nothing can stop you if you put your mind to it./_

_If only that were true for everything, _Cody replied with a light roll of his eyes. But he knew Phantom was speaking the true, having been there on his side for the past four years. To know it would all end within a few minutes could be the deciding factor on everything. Though he also wasn't sure what he would do with his powers once it was all done, it was fun to use before when he was first learning how to control it, but now it was a bit of a monotonous thing. _How ironic. Instead of thinking about what we're about to do I'm thinking about how mundane my life will be one it's all over._

_/People have different coping mechanisms, Master Cody, don't blame yourself for the way you cope/. _Cody could practically see his guardian giving him a knowing smile of comfort.

"Let's go."

At Zack's two word sentence, tension filled the room. A serious tension that alerted the others it was time for them to say goodbye, maybe for the last time. Cody felt his resolve break and immediately turned to his mother wrapped his arms around her. Carey let out a low sound that suspiciously sounded like a masked sob and ran gently stroked the back of his head with the palm of her hand. All of a sudden Cody felt as if he were five years old again, having just been scared by a big dog that had chased him around—or Zack in some sort of a costume that really was _not _funny—and Carey taking care of him, brushing away his tears and murmuring words of comfort until he was smiling again.

He wasn't going to be smiling for a long time.

Turning his head the other way, Cody was surprised to find Zack holding onto Kurt with as much suppressed emotion Cody was holding onto Carey. Despite the two men being close in height, Zack rested his cheek on Kurt's shoulder and looked back at Cody. The twins' eyes met and the same thought flashed through their heads. If they died at least it was to protect them.

Finally, the teens finished their goodbyes and Sydney called out his staff. He lifted it high into the air and his eyes glowed in a bright white light before the entire group was covered in the same light, exuding out into a dome that encompassed the group just as it had done on the plan. Cody immediately flashed back to when he had traveled through the darkness with Rhuben and the pressure and feeling of depression that pressed upon him on all sides. This time it was different; it was filled entirely with warmth.

Cody barely got a chance to bask in it before he found himself standing in the middle of an empty street, dilapidated buildings set up around him. Uriel's reach had gone further than he or the others had originally realized. The thought alone was horrifying.

"Guys, we've got incoming!" Patrick declared. He had already slid his wings out of his back and was up in the air, sharp eyes gazing in the distance. "There're a lot of his Shadow Hunters…and some other Elementals as well." As soon as the last words came out of his mouth, he dive-bombed towards the ground as a large boulder went flying overhead and crashed into the building behind them, sending glass raining down around them.

Bringing his arms up over his head, Cody shielded himself from the tiny shards of glass and glanced up, a sudden shock of fear rolling through him when he saw the wave of darkness coming towards him. They were the Shadow Hunters; he could see them clearly due to his enhanced eyesight. With them he saw numerous Elementals coming their way, guardians at their sides, dark scowls on their faces as the charged them.

Tapeworm frowned and his hands immediately glowed green. He placed his hands palms on the asphalt and lifted them up, a boulder that was twice the size that shot towards Patrick, lifting up. With a cry of effort, he shot the boulder back towards the army coming their way. The group watched as the boulder crashed directly into some Shadow Hunters and immediately knocked out five of them, causing them to implode in wisps of smoke. But for those ones they managed to defeat, two more popped up in its place.

Then the Shadow Hunters and Elementals were upon them. Cody quickly summoned his battle outfit and his water staff and shot a stream of water over towards the Shadow Hunters that surrounded him. Then he realized how some of them were different than the ones they had come across before; some of them were small and appeared cute, but others were bigger and appeared more vicious, with red eyes rather than yellow, and long teeth that protruded from their mouths, as sharp as knives. Ducking his head out of the way as a large claw came shooting towards him; Cody turned his back on another Shadow Hunter and felt its claws rake down his back.

"Gah!" The cry escaped Cody's lips before he could stop it and he whirled back around to strike the one that had shot him and got himself attacked once more. The Shadow Hunters were stronger than he thought and being backed by the Elementals made it even more difficult to fight. Phantom suddenly appeared beside him in his beast form and started to glide through the air, slashing through the Shadow Hunters in front of him. The other guardians followed his lead and they started to attack the guardians of the evil Elementals that were attacking them.

"Riptide Rush!" A jet of water shot from the gem atop Cody's staff and shot through the stomach of three Shadow Hunters before he whirled around on the balls of his left foot and struck another one in the face, propelling it away from him.

He felt a sudden rush of heat behind him and turned around to see Zack making quick work of the Shadow Hunters that came his way. Blazen shot down over the Shadow Hunters and crashed through the ones that surrounded his ward. Cody took the small moment of reprieve to look around the clearing, all of his friends were fighting as hard as they could, but he could see it wouldn't help.

There were too many Shadow Hunters and Elementals that were surrounding them to come even close to Uriel. They had to break apart sooner than originally planned or nothing was going to change. Zack seemed to have been able to read Cody's mind for after striking the blade of his sword through the head of a Shadow Hunter he turned towards the direction they came.

"Can you hold em' off, Blazen?" Zack asked as the space around him become clearer. He turned and glared in the direction of Uriel. "I have someone I need to have a word with."

* * *

**A/N: **I'm 90% sure I've spelled Crystal's mother's name three different ways throughout this story. Food for thought…

Anyway, I'm excited for you guys to see what happens next.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	46. Rise

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

* * *

Cody wrenched out of an Elemental's grasp and grabbed onto his twin brother before he could go flying out to face Uriel, who continued to watch the battle unfold from a distance.

"Cody!" Zack spat, trying to wrestle free. "Let go."

With a hard tug, Cody pulled his brother to face him, shook him. "You can't run out on the plan," he snapped at his brother. "You'll ruin everything if you do. We have to keep going with this before we go after Uriel! Don't be stupid!"

He didn't think his brother was stupid, he thought his brother had enough. Enough of the constant battles, enough of the war, enough of the invisible enemies they weren't sure were coming out of the woodwork in a matter of seconds once their guards were down. He was completely done. Even from where Cody stood he could see flashes of red light form his brother's hand, the elemental energy coming together to start the formation of a flame, but he was doing his best to hold it at bay.

All of a sudden Cody felt Zack's hand slip from his grasp and he was lifted off of his feet and thrown into the air. There was a loud explosion and the ground exploded around him. Stinging with pain, Cody rolled onto his side and found an Elemental grinning at him, above his hands glowed balls of pure energy.

_Oh Great, another Element we haven't seen before. _He would've been fascinated, even a little excited, if it weren't that his life was currently being threatened. Phantom surged down in front of him and puffed out his wings to their full extent before grabbing onto Cody and taking off into the air. Feeling the wind rush around them, Cody closed his eyes, waiting for the world to stop whizzing by. Wait. That wasn't the world.

Opening his eyes, Cody found there were pieces of shrapnel, maybe wood, maybe metal he wasn't sure, blowing by them. From his vantage point he could see numerous Elementals throwing whatever they could their way. Below he could see what looked like ants swarming and shuddered, realizing how much of a reach Uriel had with his Shadow Hunters. They were everywhere.

"CODY!"

He heard Maddie's scream and turned around in time to find a large blast of energy heading his way. There wasn't going to be enough time for him and Phantom to get out of the way. He felt Phantom's body steel behind him, ready to take in as much of the energy blast as he could. Cody didn't expect it to be something that would kill him, not deplete him of most of his energy, but he wasn't sure where the blast had come from and whether or not it was a combined effort.

"Spirit Shield!"

Cody opened his eyes and looked around to find the blast had been fended off by a large shield encompassed around him. He looked around to find Sydney gliding by, holding onto Aaron with one hand and his staff with the other. The long sleeves of his magi-esque battle outfit fluttered as he flew by then slowed to a stop. Aaron, feeling the change in their speed grasped tighter to Sydney's hand and closed his eyes as he concentrated. There was a bright burst of light and the blast was knocked backwards, rocketing out towards the horizon before it was eliminated in such a harsh light that Cody had to close his eyes once more.

"Are you okay, Cody?" Phantom asked, loosening his grip.

"Yeah." Cody swallowed hard. "Yeah." Then he twisted around. "Where's Zack?"

Cody unfurled his own wings from his back and hovered in the air, looking around for his brother. He saw that he had been knocked aside by the blast as well and that Blazen was holding onto him tightly, hovering off the ground as Blazen's wings slowly flapped up and down. Maddie and Julius, atop of Rudin were fending off whatever blasts that came their way. Bailey stood nearby, crouched in a low squat as a Shadow Hunter jumped overhead, and sent a brilliant blast of light energy into the Shadow Hunter, obliterating it immediately.

"Zack!" Cody immediately rushed over to his brother. "Are you okay?" He had to be okay. If Cody didn't get the brunt of the blast then Zack had to have. There was no way the blast could've missed them that badly. If Zack was hurt, they wouldn't be able to go against Uriel.

"I'm okay," Zack replied. He spat on the ground, his saliva tinged a light pink. "I didn't get hit directly."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I…I have no idea where it even came from but it didn't get me. You?"

"I'm fine." Cody sucked in a deep breath and turned towards his friends who were still fighting. They were working hard and didn't appear to even be breaking a sweat or using even half of their powers against the Shadow Hunters as they kept coming in droves. He then lifted his eyes and tilted his head to the side, focusing his sightline on Uriel as he watched the skirmish in the city streets below him.

He shook his head.

They couldn't wait any longer.

Turning his gaze back to Zack he found his brother glaring as he pushed himself out of Blazen's grasp. He stepped up into Cody's face, eyes flashing. It gave Cody a bit of satisfaction to see that he had to tilt his head back a little bit so that he could look him directly in his eyes.

"Do you think we shouldn't go after him now?" He demanded.

Cody glared back at him. This wasn't his fault. The same thing would've happened if they were on another part of the battlefield. There was just too many of them around to be able to stop. Or to watch at all times. He opened his mouth to say something back, but was cut off by a whistling sound and immediately ducked his head as the building behind them erupted in a blast of energy, sending shards of glass glittering over the ground, sticking in his hair and on his arms and shoulders. It scratched and itched but he merely brushed it off—he covered himself in a thin veil of water and allowed it to wash off of him, taking the glass with him. Something he had learned he could do one having the power of the element stone.

"We need to get going," Zack declared. He held out his hand and his heavy blade appeared in it. His fingers twitched on the hilt. "Or else Uriel is just going to send more of these guys after us. They can handle him. If we want to get Project ATOM underway and stop this guy, we have to go now!" He turned and pointed towards Sydney and Aaron. "I want you guys and Bailey right behind either me or Cody. Julius and Maddie will bring up the rear."

"You got it," Julius replied, holding tightly onto his guardian's back. "If there's a long range opening I've got it covered."

"I hope you guys can do this quickly," Maddie said. She looked up towards the ever darkening sky, shaking her head. "He looks like he's ready for a fight. And if we have to use Project ATOM…" she trailed off, shaking her head once more.

It wasn't an option.

The fact they had it in their arsenal was something they could easily utilize when the time was right. However, knowing there was a chance all of them could lose their powers being in the fallout zone wasn't anything they could risk. Especially considering if it didn't work…

"Let's go," Cody finally said.

He crouched low then used a powerful down stroke of his wings to shoot him upwards. Zack followed suit and Blazen and Phantom flew up behind them. Sydney and Aaron moved to Zack's and Cody's outer side and Julius, Maddie, and Rudin took up the rear at a respectable distance. Cody swallowed hard as they flew towards Uriel, who continued to watch them as they approached.

Uriel cracked a smile but didn't look worried.

Cody summoned his staff.

It was time.

"I don't know about you, but I intend to have some fun with this," Uriel said, his smile stretching wider.

* * *

Tapeworm ducked out of the way and rolled across the ground as a Shadow Hunter charged towards him. This was a big one, bigger than the rest. It towered over the group many meters high. There were plenty of them being created as several of the smaller Shadow Hunters combined together. The quicker they knocked them down, and then they could go for the Elementals along with them, the quicker they could all go for Uriel together.

Placing a glowing green hand on the ground, he summoned a large slab of rock to deflect the swipe of the arm that was coming his way. The Shadow Hunter let out a screaming roar, causing the ground to tremble beneath his feet. Then shot vines out from his hands and wrapped them around the rock and the arm, welding them together. He leapt to his feet and flipped up over the rock slab, running up the arm of the shadow hunter. "Aegis!" He cried, summoning his shield.

The Shadow Hunter tore its hand back from the rock slab and knocked it towards Tapeworm. He reacted quickly, throwing the shield as hard as he could before he was caught across the chest. A grunt of pain escaped his lips and he rocketed back onto the ground, crashing hard against it. There was another loud roar and Ursa appeared at Tapeworm's side before lumbering forward, picking up speed as he did so, and launched forward. Ursa struck the Shadow Hunter with a straight head butt; at the same time the green markings on the bear's fur glowed a bright green, shooting out blasts of energy into it as it did so. The Shadow Hunter fell apart into several of the smaller Shadow Hunters which were then taken care of as his shield came flying back towards him like a boomerang.

"Great job, Ursa!" He congratulated his guardian.

Max sucked in a deep breath, trying to quell her fear as Shadow Hunters circled around her. Sensing one coming up behind her, she kicked backwards as hard as she could, striking it in the face. The Shadow Hunters all attacked at once. Their bulbous heads opened wide to show the rows of razor sharp teeth that aimed towards her head and face. "Max!" Eyes widened Max spotted Canis leap in front of her from somewhere behind. She would've laughed if she wasn't so frightened being back in battle; the guardian that used to be such a majestic looking dog was now the size of a puppy. Her eyes glowed and the wind kicked up, causing her to run faster.

Canis darted around, leaping atop the Shadow Hunters and knocked them to the ground with as much ease as a snap of the fingers. Max watched as her guardian continued to make quick work of the smaller Shadow Hunters around them. She was protecting her, even when she didn't have her full powers back, without fear of the death she had suffered from before. And yet here was Max, shaking in her boots at the very idea. She still had that sense of power that her Elemental ability gave her, but that didn't quell her natural instinct to run and hide.

Death was a strange feeling to her; it was if time hadn't passed, as if she had just fallen asleep. There were obvious differences though; all of her friends looked leaner and more ragged, Canis was obviously different, she was hesitating more than she ever had, and there was a bigger opponent she never thought they would have ever faced. She was able to see Tapeworm while she had been 'gone' and it felt like a dream within the time she was asleep though it was all so very real. She remembered seeing there in front of him, being able to hold onto him and hold him as she had wanted to do for so long. Then it was gone again.

It was worse than a dream now that she was facing the possibility of losing it all again. She took a deep breath as Canis continued to run around, barking and using her powers to keep Shadow Hunters away from her ward and Max slowly started to grin. She could feel the power move through her body; she was strong, stronger than she would give herself credit for. She had the same strength that had been harnessed over the years. She could do this.

Max took in a deep breath and focused hard on the power within her, feeling it move through her body as if she was putting on a full-length glove. Oh yeah, she could do this. Holding her hand up, she found a mini tornado form over her hand before leaping high into the air, using her element of air to keep herself upright. Then she spun in a tight circle and sent a blast of energy down towards the Shadow Hunters, knocking a few out of the way.

She landed with ease, using her powers to shoot her back into the foray once more.

"Glaciate!" Crystal pressed her lips into a thin line as she froze the blood of the Elementals coming towards her. They were older, close to their twenties and thirties. It wasn't so hard for her to do this time. They were following the words of a monster; they were willingly deciding to fight everything that had kept them safe over the past few years. And if that was the way they wanted it, it was fine.

The ice elemental's eyes narrowed for a moment and she pushed her powers even harder, pushing away the screams of pain and horror from those whose blood was being frozen, recognizing the attack as soon as she started. She had done this move once before and it was hard then. She had killed a government worker with the move, freezing his blood until movement in the ligaments became impossible. Then she had stabbed him in the stomach with an icicle to immobilize him even further before choking him to death.

She had never killed someone so close before. Normally her attacks were long range, to the point that she didn't have to look back to see the aftermath. It was a distant memory. That death, however, haunted her more than she could say. Once she had regained control of her body she was immediately filled with guilt. It haunted her dreams, causing her sleepless nights. But now she had to do it to stay alive.

Curling her fingers in her hands, Crystal's eyes moved towards the Shadow Hunters that jumped out from behind the freezing elementals. All of a sudden, Crystal felt her legs come out from underneath her as Dricer ducked his head between her legs. She grabbed onto his fur as he leaned down and used his powerful muscles to crouch down before exploding upward sand over the heads of the Shadow Hunters. Dricer then turned around and shot a stream of icy wind towards the Shadow Hunters before following up with a batting of his paw, knocking straight through a few of them.

"Great job, Drice," She said, rubbing the back of his head.

She held her hand out and her new and improved bow appeared in her hands. She strung three arrows and pulled them back, tilting herself backwards as she did so to aim them into the air. Squeezing an eye shut, she let go and the arrows streaked through the sky. Once they reached the maximum height they exploded, sending a shower of snowflakes and hail to the ground below. Dricer disappeared from underneath her and she landed crouched on the ground, whipping around and using her bow to strike another Shadow Hunter, this time a medium sized one, that came her way. She then placed it on the ground before flipping herself up and striking it in the face once more.

Then she encompassed her hand in a frozen block and punched another one straight through the stomach causing it to immediately implode.

Riley leapt backwards off of the awning of a nearby building and brought her hands up to shield her face as a Shadow Hunter came her way. She felt a collision against her arms and pushed backwards, forcing the weight away from her. But she overestimated her rate of fall and found herself crashing down to the ground in a hard thud, stopping her movement all together. If she was a regular human, she would've been killed by the fall alone. With her enhanced invincibility she was bound to end up with a pretty bad bruise at the worst. Still, that wouldn't be enough to extinguish the intense irritation she felt as she flipped back to her feet. Eyes glowing with an inner light, Riley lifted her hand and sent a rush of flame out towards the center of the Shadow Hunter. She rolled her shoulders then started in a fury of strong kicks and punches laced with fire and fury.

"Spit Fire!" She launched herself backwards, far enough so that she wouldn't be hit with a backlash, and cupped her hands, shooting speedballs of fire out towards her opponents. She then followed up with a short range attack. "Crimson Scorpion!" Her scythes appeared on the forearms of her battle suit and she raced forward with an accelerated burst of fire from behind her to allow herself forward. She swung her arms out to the sides and caught Shadow Hunters and Elementals in the same blows, sending splatters of blood through the air.

Riley skidded to a stop and received a strong kick to the stomach from a metal elemental. It caught her off-guard more than anything else. Nevertheless, it knocked the wind out of her, causing her to stumble back a few steps before she was kicked hard across the face and landed on her back. Seconds later she had a metal spike racing towards her head, directly at her left eye. She rolled to the side and found the spike slammed into the ground in front of her once more. She moved back onto her back and looked up into the face of the metal elemental. Long blonde hair, brown eyes, long eyelashes, a sort of baby face pinpointing her a little bit younger than Riley, and a sinister snarl.

The Metal Elemental lifted her hand, which was completely encompassed in metal with the tip turned into metal spike, now pointed directly between her eyes. She started to shove the spike down towards her face and Riley's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth into a loud, beat-like growl as she tapped into her wolf powers. She brought her foot up and kicked the metal spike out of her face then flipped to her feet, causing the Metal Elemental to back away a few steps. The girl scowled then raced towards her once more. Growling, Riley brought up her fist, stiff-arming and punched the girl in the face, knocking her off her feet, out cold.

Lowering her arm, Riley flicked her hair out of her face with a shake of her head. "Forgot I could do that," she murmured.

Rhuben, on the other hand, didn't forget that he had ability to take on the powers from her guardian and snarled, her sharpened fangs gleaming as she crouched low, waiting for the Elemental standing in front of her to attack first. She clenched her hand into a fist, concentrating on her darkness energy and created a small ball in the palm of her hand. Her hand shook as she held onto the force of the energy coming out towards her. She threw it towards the Elemental and raced after it, charging on all fours as she did so. The Elemental shot a stream of water towards the darkness energy to shoot it back towards her and changed it to ice, following up with his own attack.

Holding out her hand, Rhuben took back the ball of darkness energy and held onto it as she leapt high into the air. She threw the darkness ball with her right hand, using the momentum to spin herself around, striking with the claw from her left hand. She caught the water Elemental in the face, knocking him back before slashing him across the chest. She then pounced backwards off of him and landed on the ground in a light crouch before standing up straight. She lowered her lion instincts and her eyes glowed a bright purple. "Darkness Atom Bomb!" She spread her arms out so her body resembled the shape of a 'T' and a dome of darkness energy balls appeared above her. Clenching her hands into fists, she let out a cry of effort as she lowered her arms, sending the darkness balls raining down on the elemental.

She followed up with a strong kick to the chest before holding out her hands. "Infinite Cruelty!" Her increasingly big heavy blade appeared in her hands and she screamed as she swung it to the side, feeling as it resisted for a moment, catching the Elemental's body. She closed her eyes and continued the swing, only stopping when she heard the sound of his body hit the ground undoubtedly in pieces. Shifting her weight onto her back leg, she pushed off and started to take care of the Shadow Hunters.

Patrick and Noah, due to their elements being very close in relation to each other, tag-teamed their attacks. Patrick would create a strong gust of wind that would hold back the Elementals or Shadow Hunters and Patrick would swoop in with a lightning strike that would knock them down. Then he would use the ground to conduct electricity, paralyzing them, and then Noah would use his ability of silver wind to strike others down. Bringing his dragon wings out of his back, Noah lifted himself up into the air and shot himself forward, summoning his weapon a he did so. The new and improved axe was weight balanced in his hand, easy to maneuver as he blew by their opponents, slashing back and forth to catch them on the arms or the sides.

Patrick then followed up with close ranged attacks. He threw his spear forward and struck a Shadow Hunter directly through the chest and used a blast of electricity to bring it back to him—kind of like a magnet—and caught it to throw it back into another Shadow Hunter. At one point he got stuck with a circle of Shadow Hunter around him and used the blunt end of his spear to keep them at bay before twisting around and used the sharp end to strike them in the chest or the head.

"Silver Lightning!" Noah cried. He pressed his hands together, concentrating on the power within him and the increase in wind speed around him. He continued to increase it over and over until warmth started to envelope itself around him. He then rubbed his hands together before shooting his hand forward, sending out a bolt of electricity towards the Shadow Hunters that surrounded him. He quickly followed it up with, "Steel Smasher!" He picked up his axe, flipped it in his hand and threw it like a tomahawk. It spun around, striking more of the Shadow Hunters.

"Thunder Blitz!" Patrick created a force field of electricity around him, shocking whomever and whatever crashed into it before he started off again with Noah right behind him.

And as the group on the ground continued to fight, Zack, Cody, and the others headed off to face Uriel.

* * *

"Do you think we're going to need it?" Kristin asked under her breath as she turned from the monitor to gaze at the bomb that sat behind them, encompassed in as much cover as they could put over it. "The fallout…"

"Hopefully not," Core murmured. He cleared his throat, eyes trained on the teens fighting on the monitor. He winced every now and then as there was a particularly savage blow. "We don't know what it'll do to them rather than Uriel."

"It'll take their powers away," London reminded them. "Won't it?"

"Not exactly."

But he didn't elaborate other than that. Instead he continued to watch the screen with Reed, Renee, and Kristin. Christian, Koto, and Reihu stood towards the back of the room, ready in case someone tried to break into the room to stop them that way.

Carey let out a long sigh as she watched her sons streak across the sky towards Uriel. The evil man continued to watch the Elementals as they came closer to him, alternately shifting his attention to those on the ground. He radiated evil and she couldn't help but allow it to settle in her gut.

This was going to be bad.

"They'll be okay, Carey," Kurt said. He put his arm around his ex-wife's shoulders, hugging her gently. "They'll be okay."


	47. Not Gonna Die

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

* * *

Uriel flicked a hand to the side as the Elementals on the streets below went flying through the air, crashing hard into the ground. Way too easy. They had to put up a better fight than that if they were going to have any shot at defeating him. Then again…

Lifting his hand upwards he watched as they levitated up into the air once more. Clenching his hand into a fist, he watched as they all groaned in pain before he opened his hand and they fell to the ground once more. He could have some fun with it.

Patrick picked his face up off the ground and brushed away the pieces of rock that became embedded in his skin. "This is really starting to get old," he muttered, his small wounds healing very quickly. "I didn't know he had that power, I thought he could just suck our souls out through our noses."

"The fact that you can still have a sense of humor about this is astounding," Noah remarked, his eyes flashing with anger. He pushed himself up with a quick blast of air directed towards the ground. He looked around and noticed that he and his friends weren't the only ones that had been attacked by Uriel. "I don't get it," he said. "He attacked the rest of his followers."

"It proves he doesn't care much about those that are working for him, they're just as disposable as the rest of us are," Tapeworm said. He took a step back before leaping up onto Ursa's back. He tapped Ursa's shoulder and the bear guardian stepped up onto its hind legs so that he towered over the group. "He got rid of the Shadow Hunters."

"Mmm. No he didn't," Rhuben remarked. She still crouched on the ground, the palms of her hands flat on the ground. Her eyes glowed purple as she tilted her head to the side, sensing the feeling of the darkness around them. "They're underground or are hiding. Uriel may be using them as reserves, yeah? For the moment they're not around."

"But these guys are." Riley cracked her knuckles as Uriel's Elementals got up off the ground and shook off their injuries, like zombies and turned back towards them. "Do you think they have part of Uriel within each of them?"

Crystal shrugged and held up her hand and an icicle appeared in it. "Only one way to find out. Once we're done with this, we can help Zack and Cody." She turned her gaze up towards the sky. "If Uriel is as strong as we think, from what he just did and at such a far reach, he's going to be tougher than we thought."

"Oh this will be fun." Patrick's eyebrow twitched upwards and he stretched his arms. "You know if we don't get killed."

"You really gotta stop with that whole humor thing," Max pointed out. "It's not working." She rushed forward and blew a rush of air towards an Elemental, bringing it up off its feet. She only managed to hover the Elemental a few feet off the ground, rather than the massive height she used to be able to exhibit.

With that the group starting attacking once more. Riley slid underneath the metal bar that was swung at her head and swung herself around to find the metal Elemental glared at her. She let out a low sigh before tightening her hands into fists. She thought the one punch directly to the center of the face of the Elemental would have taken it out for good. Instead it appeared that The Metal Elemental had a dent in the middle of her forehead where Riley had stiff-armed her. This girl was a strong Elemental if she had managed to figure out how to turn her entire body into metal, or at least some parts of her.

Oh well. If it was a fight she wanted, she got it. Riley took a step back and summoned the scythes from the front of her arms and charged forward. Bringing her arms down the scythes crashed onto the metal pole the Elemental created with her arm. Sparks shot off in all directions as the two girls raced back and forth, trying to gain the upper hand on each other. Riley's arms were knocked out of the way and she caught the end of the pole in the stomach, causing her to fly back and land atop a car. The metal of the car bent, sending the glass of the windows shooting out into the street.

Rolling onto her side, Riley glanced down at the car and an evil grin came to her face, eyes turning a dark red. She sheathed her scythes and pulled her arm back. Fist erupting into dark flames, she punched through the roof of the car as if it were butter and set the interior of the car on fire. The inferno raged out of control within a few seconds. Sliding to the ground she kneeled by the car and lifted it up over her head. Hearing a light whistling sound, Riley tilted her head to the side and allowed the metal pole to crash onto the top of the car. Lifting the car over her head, she flipped it around and heaved it towards the Metal Elemental.

The Metal Elemental quickly created a metal cover over her fist and pulled her arm back as far as she could. Once the flaming car reached her she pushed her fist forward as hard as she could and cracked the flaming metal in two. Burning pieces of wreckage flew through the air and rained down around her. The DarkFire and Metal Elementals charged forward and came together in a crash of energies so strong it blasted each other apart. Riley sent continuous punches of fire towards the Metal Elemental as she came back towards her once more. As the fire rushed by her opponent, Riley could see patches of her skin starting to droop and melt. The heat of her power must have started to affect her more as time went on.

_I guess this is the only way for it to go, _Riley thought, pressing her lips together in a thin line. She stood up straight and clenched her hands as tightly as she could, concentrating hard. The Metal Elemental continued towards her, but then the blank expression on her face started to droop as much as the rest of her. Then there was a confused expression on her face as she came to a stop. Wisps of steam were visible from her body and she stared at it, her confusion growing as she held p her hand, watching as pieces of her skin continued to droop and melt off. Then she started to scream, long agonizing screams as she realized what was happening to her; she was being burned from the inside, her blood was burning. Riley slowly brought up her left hand, continuing to watch as the girl's skin blistered and bubbled. The Metal Elemental brought her hands up to her face then pulled it away, unable to touch it without making things worse, a bubble appeared on her neck growing bigger by the second.

Taking a deep breath through her nose Riley summoned her scythes once more and raced forward, bringing it through the girl's body with ease. She then took a step back and held her hand up towards the unmoving body. "Incinerate," she hissed and sent out a rush of fire so strong it would take hours for the last flame to die out. Lowering her hand she lowered her gaze to the pile of ash that fluttered to the ground. The wind picked it up and blew it away.

Tapeworm brought his hands up as an Elemental flew his way and a large rock wall came up just as they reached him. He closed his eyes, quickly turning his head away as he sensed the force of the body hit the rock wall at high speeds. Turning his hand around, Tapeworm turned the rock over and flattened the Elemental underneath. Seconds later the rock blasted apart with a quick shot of energy and Tapeworm shielded his face as rocks shot by him. He lowered his arms and held up a hand, creating a wooden spear in his hand. He flipped it around and charged towards the Elemental that came his way. He threw the spear as hard as he could and created another one before throwing that one, over and over again.

The Elemental knocked it away with another blast of energy…he couldn't tell what sort of power the Elemental had, though he had to guess it was of energy in general. They had never come across that sort of Elemental before though he wasn't surprised; there were so many that had differing and combinations of powers they probably would never witness. But an Elemental of pure energy was going to be tougher than he thought. As the Elemental pulled herself up, he could see her eye hanging out of its socket, her face a bloody mess from where she had crashed into the rock slab.

Before Tapeworm could shield himself with vines or another rock, he felt a searing pain in his shoulder that sent him spinning around before he fell to the ground. Reaching over to the spot he felt a hole directly through his shoulder and if he weren't as strong as he was he probably would have immediately gone into shock, leaving himself a target. Instead, Ursa moved in front of him to shield him from any further attacks.

"No," Tapeworm said of his guardian. "I'm going to need you to fight Uriel, don't get hurt now."

"Yes, Master Tapeworm." Ursa then disappeared, moving back into Tapeworm's body. The Energy Elemental shot towards him once more and he created a large wooden shield made of intertwined wood, vines, and rock. It was heavy to the point he had difficulty holding onto it. But it would serve his purpose. Gripping the shield in both of his hands, Tapeworm charged towards the Energy Elemental, who directly charged back at him.

The Energy Elemental shot a bolt of energy directly towards the center of Tapeworm's shield and followed up with a punch. At the last second, Tapeworm turned his shield around and watched as the Energy Elemental's fist truck into the flower that sat directly in the center of the shield. Swallowing thickly Tapeworm watched as a plume of pollen shot out all over the Energy Elemental who let out a cry of surprise and backed away from the shield. She shook off her hand and watched as bone immediately started to show through her skin. The rest of her skin started to follow suit as the pollen from Tapeworm's poisonous flower coated her. It didn't take long until her skeleton rested in front of him and crumpled to the ground.

"Shock Nova!"

Patrick sent a blast of lightning down from the sky that created a ring of lightning around two Elementals that stood before him and Noah. The circular area was then covered in a doe that exploded in a bright, brilliant light of lightning that exploded, sending heat and electricity through the air and the bodies of those within the dome.

"Storm Call!"

Noah pressed his hands together and the wind around him increased in speed before a tornado created beside him getting bigger and bigger by the second. The he sent bolts of silver wind energy into the tornado, shooting it towards the elementals that didn't have time to move out of the way. They became swept up into the tornado and buffeted by the silver wind as they went around and around. Finally, the tornado dissipated and the Elementals fell to the ground.

Over and over Patrick and Noah sent electric charges and blasts of silver wind into the Elementals. Noah held out his hand. "Thorned Affection!" He called, summoning his new axe. He grasped it by the blade between his palms and threw it as hard as he could, like a tomahawk. The blade whipped around and shot by one of the Elementals, slicing it across the throat, sending a wave of blood through the air. Patrick then summoned his spear and threw it as hard as he could, striking an Elemental directly through the chest.

All around them the Elementals were locked into a strong battle to the death, aware that the only way to stop those under Uriel's control was to effectively end the life of all of those he had managed to control. It wasn't the best option they had to work with but it had to be gone. All across the streets they raced back and forth, knocking down as many as they could. But no matter how many they managed to knock down, more replaced them.

"Uriel has a stronger reach than I thought," Rhuben commented, swinging her heavy blade around and taking down a few Elementals with one swing. She couldn't focus on the ages of the Elementals that came up to her while they ranged from fairly young to older, they were the enemy and as good as dead once Uriel got a hold of them. They saw what he would could when he was done with someone, how easily he could take the life out of one of them with a snap of his fingers and that was apparently only a fraction of his powers.

But as Mother Nature and Father Time had said, one someone was taken over by Uriel, once he split part of himself into the Elemental the person whose soul used to inhabit that body was already gone. It was a truth they had to face and not dwell on or else they would be sitting ducks.

"That may be a good thing," Max remarked, blowing an Elemental clear through a building with a blast of wind. She pulled back her pigtails. "The more of these guys we can get rid of, the weaker he'll be right?"

"In theory," Crystal agreed. The group slowly started to walk backwards until they were in a tight semi-circle, watching as more Elementals came their way. There seemed to be a fresh wave for them as the time came and it was then the realization dawned on them. The camps that Uriel had created while they were gone, having entrapped the Elementals that had awakened or had yet to, they were taken over Uriel and were to be disposed of when needed. "We don't know if that's really true."

"There's only one way to find out," Riley said.

As if Uriel had heard them, there was a sudden blast of white light that caused them to close their eyes, shielding their faces away from the blinding luminosity. Once the light died down they spotted all of the Elementals that had been attacking them lying quietly on the ground, eyes wide open and glassy. They appeared like mannequins, dolls that had been left by their kids as they moved on to adolescence. There was a booming explosion and the group looked up to find a smoke cloud above their heads seconds before they watched Cody fly around the cloud and charge towards Uriel.

It looked they were going to need a lot of help.

* * *

"This isn't good," Reed said, leaning forward, practically snarling at the monitor that showed the Elementals Uriel had just disposed of. "He took out a large chunk of his power that had been implanted along the rest of them so he can now focus on the others. He either sees that he may not be able to get through this or there's something up his sleeve we don't know about."

"I wouldn't rule it out, Reed," Akito agreed. "I've gone against this man before. There's always something this entity can do that we may not know of." He sucked in a deep breath and reached out with his free hand, gently petting his fox guardian on the head. "He took Trethaway and Zhane and left them empty shells of what they used to be. And he's managed to survive out here on Earth for that long with the power of life and death he can feed off of as people die every day. It has to have made him stronger than anyone can comprehend."

"What does that mean, though?" Carey demanded. "What does it mean for them?"

"They're strong enough to fend him off," Kristen reassured her. "We know that for sure. Uriel wouldn't have waited this long to attack unless he wanted a fair fight. No, he wants to prove that he would be the ultimate power."

"Is that in a villains rule book or something?" Koto asked with a raised eyebrow. "If it were me I wouldn't wait for a fair fight, I'd attack even if they were weak."

"We did that," Reihu pointed out. "Remember." He nodded his head over towards Core, who stood on the other side of the room, a hand up to his mouth. "Didn't really work out for us either because we were going after the 'strongest elementals of our time'," he used air quotes around the words before bringing his attention back to the monitor.

"Oh yeah."

"If he got rid of all of the Elementals," Kurt started. "What does that mean for the Shadow—"he stopped as there was as sudden banging at the door. Before any of them could move, the door to the room blasted open with so much force that the door went shooting across the room. Christian reached out and grabbed onto London, pulling her out of the way or else she would have suffered greatly from the blasted piece of metal.

Shadow Hunters of all shapes and sizes immediately flooded the room, causing worried cries to come up. Akito tapped the fox on the head once more and it leapt high into the air, turning in a quick circle. The tails on the fox erupted into flame and shot out towards the Shadow Hunters, knocking a few of them down before they could some too close. Koto and Reihu immediately jumped into the fray as well, turning into a wolf and lion after one quick flip through the air, darting back and forth as they used their teeth and claws to knock out any Shadow Hunter that came their way.

Diamond quickly ushered the others back out of the way and lifted his shot gun, shooting a bullet directly through the face of one Shadow Hunter. Then he reached behind him and pulled a pistol out from behind him and checked the chamber before sending out another blast. There was a thunderous clap as a bolt of lightning shot out and crashed into other Shadow Hunters as well.

"Grab the case," Renee declared. "They're going after the bomb!"

"But how are we going to get out of here?" Esteban asked from where he had jumped into Mr. Moseby's arms as the door had crashed open. "They're blocking the door."

"And what are we going to do when we get outside? It's not safe out there," Mr. Moseby added, tightening his grip on the bellboy as another wave of Shadow Hunters continued to surge into the room. He and Esteban screamed high-pitched screams and backed away from the waves of dark beings coming their way.

"There are more places that will give us protection out there than in here," Reed said. He nodded to Core and the two went over to the case that held Project ATOM and lifted it up off of the table it was resting on. "And we have the technology to at least keep it safe."

"What about us?" London whimpered.

"There're always going to be some sacrifices that have to be made and if some of us have to fall so that the entire Earth isn't destroyed." Core grabbed the other end of Project ATOM and pulled what looked like a calculator out of his pocket. He looked at it for a second and nodded. "There's an area not too far from here that we can go. It'll give us the chance to watch the fight and be sure when it'll be the right time to send this off if need be." He turned towards Diamond, who continued to switch back and forth between his shotgun and his Element Gun to drive the Shadow Hunters back. "Clear a path?"

"I'm working on it," Diamond grunted. He flipped his shotgun around and bashed another Shadow Hunter in the face before switching tactics and using a precision strike with the bottom of his foot and struck hard into the Shadow Hunter's face, defeating that one. The fox jumped around, using its fox fire to take down some Shadow Hunters as well as strong strikes with its paws as well as charging through them. Koto and Reihu followed the fox's lead and used their quick movements to knock the Shadow Hunters around. "Alright, let's go!"

They group charged through the opening the Shadow Hunters left and raced through the halls of the building as quickly as they could. The Shadow Hunters turned and chased after them; running in a frenzy much like zombies chasing after their next serving of brains. Finally they came out onto the streets, which gave them more space. Koto, Reihu, and Diamond took out the rest of the Shadow Hunters and Reed and Core carefully placed Project ATOM on the ground and took it out of its enclosed space.

"What are you doing?" Carey cried. "What if it goes off?"

"The only things it'll affect are the Elementals," Kristen explained to her. "Especially those in the blast radius."

"Despite having the souls of Mother Nature and Father Time it won't affect you." Reed checked over the readings that lifted and dipped every few seconds. "No worries."

Diamond snorted loudly as he took out the last Shadow Hunter and moved his shotgun over his shoulder once more. Koto shook out his head before he turned back into his human form and stretched his arms over his head, then rolled his neck. "I certainly missed that. Being dead is really, very boring."

"Don't get too comfortable just yet," Reihu commented. "There's going to be plenty for you to do against that guy." He nodded over towards Uriel and growled, his eyes shifting for a moment. "They're not going to be able to do this alone."

Koto made a face. "I think I liked it better when you were that annoying buzzing bee that didn't stop talking. This whole 'I'm going to do good' thing is really starting to creep me out." He cracked his knuckles and turned back towards Uriel. His eyes shifted as well and he let out a low growl that came from deep within his chest. His nails elongated into claws and he continued to growl as he glared at Uriel.

It seemed habits die hard.

* * *

Bailey opened the book of Esme and flipped through the fluttering pages as Julius directed Rudin towards Uriel. There was a large blast and she gasped, holding tightly onto the book as Rudin leapt aside when Cody rocketed towards the ground, crashing down behind them.

"Cody!" Maddie called, twisting around to look at him.

"We don't have time to stop," Julius said, holding on tightly as Rudin leapt up atop a car and shot up onto a nearby rooftop. "He'll be fine; it'll take more than that to get rid of the two of them." As he finished his sentence, he watched Cody whiz by to attack once more. "Bailey, do you have anything from the book yet?"

"No. Not yet." Bailey had no idea what she was looking for or what she was to do. The words were foreign to her. The last time she had been able to read a little bit was when she had first received it. "I don't get it, if I'm Aeon, why am I unable to figure out to do it." Rudin came to a stop and Bailey slid off of his back and onto the ground.

Uriel let out a sigh as he held up his hand and grabbed onto Zack with an invisible grasp. The Fire Elemental grunted in pain and twisted back and forth, trying to get out of Uriel's grasp. Blazen appeared beside him and shot towards Uriel, sending a blast of fire his way. Uriel had no choice but to let go of Zack to go after the Eagle guardian. Zack shot up into the air, his eagle wings keeping him aloft.

"Fire Blast!"

"Water Strike!"

Zack and Cody shot the two attacks towards Uriel and followed up with strikes from their sword and staff. Uriel didn't allow either of them to get too close as he used his invisible grasp to continue to knock them around. Bailey flipped through the pages of the book even faster.

"But if I could find something it'd be a great help!" She cried, watching Zack and Cod continue to fight, wincing each time they were struck especially hard. She looked over at Aaron as Sydney rested him on the rooftop next to her. "Be careful, okay?"

"I'll do my best," Sydney said. He flipped his staff around in his hand and directed it over towards Uriel. "I could use some help though," he remarked to his eldest brother who nodded back in response. "Ice Spirits! Glacial Cascade!" From the tip of his staff came a large icicle that shot towards Uriel. Zack and Cody quickly moved out of the way as the icicle continued towards Uriel!"

"Freezing Pulse!" Julius's hands glowed a bright blue and Sydney's icicle broke off into a clump of smaller, but more lethal icicles and headed towards him. As Uriel had become too preoccupied with Zack and Cody he hadn't noticed the icicles coming his way until he had been struck in the chest with them.

Unfortunately the attack wasn't strong enough to deal a lot of damage. Still it was enough to get their attention. Julius growled, his teeth elongating as he took on the power of the cheetah and raced forward with blinding speed, bringing up his claws to rake them across Uriel's face. Sydney followed after him, using his monkey powers to launch him high into the air. "Wind Spirits! Tornado Shot!"

A tornado appeared from the ground and increased in size as it engulfed Uriel, buffeting him on all sides with the wind. Sydney then followed it with a quick blast of bright blue energy. Now Uriel frowned, appearing deeply annoyed. Bailey's breath caught in her throat as she watched Uriel grit his teeth.

She didn't know what she felt, but she was sure she just felt his power increase significantly.

"Geneva, Gattaca, there has to be something I can do to help them," she said desperately. "But I can't read anything out of this. I can't…I can't do anything!" There was a second of silence that caused Bailey's heart to drop. "I can't hear them," she murmured.

Maddie and Aaron both turned towards her. "What?" they asked in unison.

"I can't hear them! I can't hear Geneva or Gattaca!" She started to shake, the pages flapping with her movements. "I can't hear them! I don't know what to do!" Looking down at the pages she could see nothing but squiggles and shapes in front of her.

What was the point of being so powerful if she had no way of helping everyone else?

"That's one way to get his attention," Zack said once Uriel regained his footing. He and Cody exchanged glances and started forward once more but was cut off by a blast of lightning shooting by his face, nearly blasting off his ear. He quickly baked out of the way.

"Thunder Blitz!"

"Crystal Freeze!"

"Darkness Atom Bomb!"

"Fire Shot!"

"Aerial Ace!"

"Tundra Vortex!"

"Silver Strike!"

The combined attacked created a large bolt of energy that crashed into Uriel, causing him to let out a cry of pain. It was the first time any of them had managed to land a blow against him and it had finally caused some sort of damage to him. He wasn't as invincible as he thought. Zack looked over at Cody and the two nodded before pulling themselves up high into the air before using a down stroke of their wings to shoot themselves back around towards Uriel, like a yo-yo. As they came closer to embodiment of life and death, flames erupted around the blade of Zack's sword as hard water started to form within the jewel on Cody's staff.

Once close enough they let out grunts of effort as they swung their sword and staff, releasing the energy of their weapons in front of them and followed up with their speed as they crashed right into Uriel's chest. Uriel cried out and backed away once more, bringing a hand up to his chest. Zack and Cody backed away, watching and waiting as the smoke cleared.

"It can't be that easy," Cody muttered, looking around at his friends as they all hovered near him.

"Definitely not," Zack agreed.

All of a sudden he felt as if he had been hit in the stomach. It reminded him of simpler times when he had been to cross country races for his school. The teams of runners started at the top of the hill and were signaled to start by the blast of a starter gun. He heard the sound seconds before he felt the blast, as if he had been punched in the stomach. It was the same feeling. But this time it was worse. Everyone around him, all of his friends had been struck by the blast.

Bailey let out a shriek and closed the book tightly to her chest seconds before she was blown off her feet and pitched over the side of the rooftop. She could hear her friends screaming around her as they all fell and crashed to the ground. Squeezing her eyes shut, Bailey waited for the pain to roll through her body, but found herself floating. Opening one eye she saw the reflection of something gray shimmering in the windows. It took her a few moments before she realized that she was glowing white and black in equal measure. Turning around, she found the book to be flipped open to a specific page as well.

Turning the other way, she saw Zack and Cody were glowing as she was, red and blue respectively. The rest of their friends picked themselves up off the ground and watched their friends. Bailey gasped once more as the book let out a beam of white light and shone through the air, striking something that lay between Zack and Cody. Then the red and blue light went into the object and dimmed a second before it turned around and engulfed Blazen and Phantom who stood nearby their Masters.

"What is that?" Sydney asked.

"The Oracle Element," Aaron replied. Though he wasn't facing the light, nor could he see it, he could sense the increase of energy around them and held tightly onto Sydney's arm. "It's reacting to Zack's and Cody's power."

Once the light faded Blazen and Phantom were no longer eagles and were now a fire phoenix and a water phoenix.

Uriel smiled. He lowered himself to the street to face his opponents as they got back to their feet "Now it gets interesting."

* * *

**A/N: **Julius, Sydney, Crystal, Rhuben, and Max will get bigger fight scenes in the next one as theirs weren't extended in this chapter.

**Cheers,**

**-Riles**


	48. Battle Cry

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

* * *

Zack and Cody exchanged a glance and watched as the light faded and they watched Blazen and Phantom move closer to them. Reaching out a hand, Zack expected there to be some warmth, some heat radiating from the fire-like feathers that coated his—now a phoenix—guardian's body. But Blazen's flames were cool to the touch, warming from the inside rather than the out. The further along Zack ran his hand along Blazen's back the wider the flames became but still he didn't get burned.

Cody marveled over Phantom, watching as the feathers o his body rippled and swirled much like water. The ripples followed the movements of his hands as he continued to run them around until he reached Phantom's head. That's when he paused, afraid of putting water droplets into his guardian's eyes. But when he pulled his hand away, his palm was dry, as if he hadn't touched him in the first place. The rational part of his brain wondered how it was possible there was a water phoenix as he knew phoenixes, as mythical as they were, were only reborn through their own ashes. But the other part of his brain quickly pushed the thought away, knowing there was so much they had gone through that didn't make sense to anyone that stumbled upon what they were doing.

"Cool," Zack whispered, lowering his hands from Blazen. His nose then wrinkled. "I wish we could've done this sooner."

"You're telling me," Blazen agreed. He scratched his clawed foot against the ground. "It would've made things so much easier."

"This power…it's come from the Oracle Element," Cody murmured. "Do you think it'll be powerful enough? Do you think it'll be what we need to stop Uriel?"

"We won't know until we try," Phantom reminded him. He brought his wings down around him and settled onto the ground. "This time we're not split up. We're all working together to try and defeat hi. We shouldn't split up now."

"You're right," Cody agreed.

He took a deep breath and looked over at Zack, who nodded back at him. The two turned around and looked over at their friends. Cody took another deep breath; he couldn't help the wave of fear that rolled through his body like the waves on Phantom's feathers. He tried to calm himself but it was so hard, his friends were around him and they were all working for the same goal but there was still a chance they were going to lose.

Uriel was much stronger than any of them had ever thought. Much stronger than anyone they had faced before. He had an invisible grasp, could take down anyone he wanted with just one touch, and could bring someone back to life if he needed to. He was probably weakened after having been on Earth for so long after his banishment as well as the power he put into the Shadow Hunters and other Elementals took a chunk of his powers as well.

Still, he was a realistic, not an optimist. Zack was the one that usually went in with the blind faith and even looking at him now he could see the same trepidation in his face. Nevertheless, Zack clenched his hand into a fist. He could feel the surge of power moving through his veins, siphoning off from his guardian and knew they still had a chance to defeat Uriel.

Not a big one.

But still a chance.

"Just because you managed to tap into some new source of power doesn't mean you'll defeat me," Uriel pointed out. "The Oracle Element…it's not anything any of us from the Element World fear. Many around look for it, they have tried and failed but the power of that can't rival mine."

"We know you lose power the longer you're here on Earth," Bailey said, continuing to clutch the Book of Esme to her chest. "We know that's why you continued to put portions of yourself into other people and through the Shadow Hunters."

"And yet you still managed to be so afraid of me when you were nothing but little children," Uriel said. He appeared board. Pushing his hair back behind his shoulders he cracked his knuckles. "Though I wasn't nearly strong enough to get you then…all of this could have been avoided if I was able to finish with my plan then. But killing you now will be just as enjoyable." With that, his eyes narrowed and there was another blast of invisible energy.

This time, the group anticipated it and leapt over the blast as high as they could, their guardians moving into position to keep their wards safe. One by one the Elementals and their guardians raced around Uriel, using small blasts of their attacks against him, to get an idea of the power Uriel had. He fended them off with relative ease, invisible glances here and there that knocked them backwards before another one of them would swoop in and take the chance to attack the. Zack and Cody held back as the last resort, to keep from using up all of their power lest they had the chance to catch Uriel off-guard.

"Bailey, Maddie, and Aaron stay back," Zack declared once they got going on another round of attacks.

"What?" Bailey snapped. No. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. She was supposed to help them save the world. And she couldn't even get a response from Geneva and Gattaca to help her. Now she was expected to stay behind and do what? Cower in fear as they waited for their chance to be utterly destroyed? "No! I'm going to help you!"

"You can't help us if you can't tap into your power," Zack snapped back, eyes flashing with a fire that Cody had never seen before. "I'm not saying it to be a jerk, I'm saying it to try and save your life. Until you can do that, I don't want you anywhere near this. Especially Aaron, we've seen that he's managed to attack every once in a while but we still don't know the extent of his power either." He pointed over at Maddie. "I don't care if we're close to our last breath, you do not come out to help us until I give you the okay to."

Maddie nodded quietly in response. Like Bailey she wanted to help the rest of the group in any way she could. But she couldn't do anything but heal the others as she wasn't an Elemental herself, but some sort of healer as they had learned years ago. Like Bailey and maybe Aaron, she had some sort of a spirit from the Element world inside her that aided them in their fight, but hadn't given her a guardian or a set of powers along with it. Still, she exhibited bravery and the want to help as long as they had been fighting their WingzCorp and whoever else had come their way over the last few years.

Zack's eyes shifted behind Maddie and his breath nearly caught in his throat, the world slowing down around him as his enhanced sight noticed movement down the street from him. He could see his mother and father watching him from a distance, with London, Esteban, Mr. Moseby, Core, Christian, Kristen, Reed, Renee, and Akito with them, all standing around Project ATOM. Even from that distance he could see they were going to do whatever it took to protect the bomb as well as the others in case it was to go off prematurely.

_Maybe it's not so bad, _Zack thought. _It'd overpower him and while we'd lose our abilities as well, he'd be weak enough to be sent back to the Element World. _Tilting his head back, Zack looked up at the sky. It was a bright blue color, the same shade that was normally seen on a beautiful summer day. The kind that he would longingly gaze out at when he was stuck in class and begging for the day to end. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky to mar the painted picture. And yet on a beautiful day they were fighting for their lives.

He couldn't imagine on a day like that they would all go out within a power stroke of…what? Glory? Pain? Sorrow? What was the end of it going to be and how many of them were still going to be alive?

As he continued to watch his parents, he wasn't sure they could see him. Nevertheless he could see his mother's hands clasped together, staring out in his direction while his father placed his hand on her shoulder, gently rubbing it, giving her comfort he had never seen him give before. He could clearly see the expressions of determination on all of their faces—even London—and swelled with a renewed sense of pride. If they could continue to be brave throughout everything they had been through; the not knowing, the mysteries, the lies…then they could too.

"Stay with them," he said, motioning to their friends. "Protect them if you have to. Just stay safe."

"You got it." Maddie said. She hesitated, turning to leave, then went over to Julius and hugged him hard. Zack turned away, giving them a moment to themselves. If it was to be the last time…he pushed the thought away and turned back to Bailey, grasping her shoulder.

"I know you can do this," he said to her. "The prophecy says so. I can't have you get injured and things go wrong—"

"—What about you and Cody?" she demanded. "What if you guys get hurt?"

"We've been hurt many times before and managed to get through it with no problems. I don't think this time will be any different." He rolled his eyes as he remembered that he and Cody were supposed to be the strongest. It used to give him a sense of pride and excitement, even a bit of arrogance to know that, now it was a heavy burden on his shoulders he'd as soon forget. "But you have the Book of Esme for a reason and we need to know what can happen with the use of that book. If you're the only one that can do it, we can't have anything happen to you."

Bailey opened her mouth to protest further, but Aaron reached out and grabbed onto her arm, pressing the side of his face into her skin. Zack wasn't sure if it was to be a comforting gesture or a sort of way to show her that Zack was right and the best thing they could do was stay out of the way and figure out how to get the book to be read. Finally, Bailey nodded as well and took Aaron's hand in hers before turning on her heel and running back towards their family and friends.

Zack turned back around as there was a low laugh and he found Uriel's eyes shift to a dark black color. Turning back to Blazen, Zack pressed his hand against his guardian's side. "Are you ready?"

"Of course," Blazen replied.

Max was the first one to start the next wave of attacks. _If the rest of these guys can do this, so can I, _she thought, slowly moving towards Uriel at a brisk walk with Canis by her side. _You were cut down when he was strong before, you're still strong and you can still hold him off, to give others some time. _She looked down at Canis as the two increased their speed, starting to run. Canis looked up at her and nodded before leaping into the air and sending out a blast of air. Max followed suit with a blast of her own before she launched herself upwards.

Just as she thought, Uriel reacted to the first two blasts that were sent his way and swept his arm around, sending a wave of energy in the direction they came. Max, who kept herself hovered into the air, tucked her arms to her sides and shot forward and before cupping her hands together. "Aerial Ace!" A shot of energy came from her hands and struck Uriel in the face. His head jerked back but he didn't fall. Instead, he turned and an invisible force slammed her into the wall of a nearby building. Max groaned in pain at the impact and covered her face as dust and debris fell, her body making an imprint in the wall. Lifting her hands, she sent bricks rocketing back towards Uriel before she shot herself in a circle around him, pelting him with bricks as she did so.

Spinning around him in quick succession, Max got him covered in a tornado and continued to fling debris into the raging wind so that they continued to strike Uriel over and over again. He cried out in rage and held his arms out, causing the tornado to immediately dissipate. He then levitated the leftover bricks in the air and shot them back into Max, followed by the force of a strong punch to the gut, knocking Max back into another building where she fell limp.

"Max!" Tapeworm immediately raced over to her while Crystal ran after Uriel next.

"Dricer!" Crystal leapt onto her guardian's back and he took off towards Uriel with a loud roar. Once they reached a close enough distance, Dricer opened his mouth wide and shot out a blast of ice at Uriel that covered his lower body. He then charged directly into Uriel, crashing into his stomach. There was a loud cracking sound and Uriel fell backwards to the ground where Dricer leapt atop him once more and bit at his face.

Uriel knocked Dricer up into the air and out of the way. Crystal leapt off of Dricer's back and flipped to the ground, kneeling down to keep herself up right. "Glaciate!" Placing her palms on the ground she watched as a sheen of ice spread across the ground and washed over Uriel, slowing down his movements. "Frost Bite!" She clenched her hands into fists and the wall of ice started to crack and rise, sending spears of ice up into the air, sticking through parts of Uriel's body. "Ice Spear!" She summoned her bow and arrows and quickly laced them. Bringing the tip of an arrow up to her mouth she licked the sharp tip, pointed the bow into the sky and fired the arrows.

The arrows shot into the air with all but one falling back towards the ground, turning into icicles as they fell. The one arrow that went into the air erupted into what appeared to be hail before falling back to the ground atop Uriel. Breathing heavily, she held onto the bow and watched as Uriel's body twitched for a few moments. Then the icicles shot up into the air and flipped around, pointing towards Crystal. Her eyes widened even further when Uriel pulled himself up, his body riddled with holes where the icicles had gone through. However, instead of blood coming from the orifices, he healed himself within seconds. The icicles continued towards Crystal and Dricer ducked his head between her legs and pushed her onto his back before leaping out of the way.

He roared in pain as an icicle caught him on the tail. Then Uriel was suddenly at their side, punching Dricer in the flank, knocking Crystal off her back. She brought her arms up and encased them in ice as Uriel tried to strike her this tie, sending snowflakes everywhere as she did so. Lifting her feet, she kicked Uriel over her head and flipped back to her feet, turning around and sent blasts of ice out onto the ground as she leapt atop it and skated away from him. Gaining speed, she held her hand out in front of her and skated along the ice that continued her to swirl around. As she went by him in tight circles, she continued to send ice over Uriel, hoping to slow him down. But he swung around and sent a strong kick to her face that sent her flying.

Rhuben followed aft her cousin and sent a shot of darkness at Uriel, encompassing him in a bubble. She lifted him off the ground with one hand and pulled her arm back with the other, holding onto her heavy blade. She threw the blade as hard as she could before following it with a strong push off the ground and leaping after the sword. The darkness bubble continued to increase in size, sending blasts of black lightning everywhere as it continued to grow in power. Reaching her sword, Rhuben grabbed onto the blade and spun around, slicing through the bubble with the blade and catching Uriel. He smirked, uninhibited by the power of darkness that brewed around him and held up his hands, catching the blade of her sword and grinding her to an immediate stop.

Gasping, Rhuben looked up into Uriel's face before her face twisted into a snarl of pure evil. She wasn't going to allow herself to hold back any longer. They were to leave everything on the battlefield or else they wouldn't be able to live with themselves. If that meant she would have to give her all to the powers of darkness, unsure whether or not she would come back from it, then so be it. Her eyes turned a dark purple and she allowed the darkness to take her over, realizing that for the first time she had completely control over it. The darkness rolled down the end of her sword and shot Uriel in the chest, rocketing him back a few yards away.

DeathLiger, who had been waiting for his moment to move, raced after Uriel, increasing his speed as he continued to go. It was then she noticed there was another form racing on the ground along with DeathLiger and quickly recognized it as Reihu in his lion form. The two lions circled Uriel and darted forward to bat at him with their strong paws before jumping backwards so that the other got a good chance to get an attack in. Rhuben teleported through darkness to come up on the ground on Uriel's other side and held up her hand.

"Dark Darts!" A large wall of darkness appeared in front of her and it started to shoot out little bullets of darkness, striking Uriel it he back, sending him forward into DeathLiger and Reihu. DeathLiger swung his wings down and the sudden blast of wind knocked Uriel further back into Rhuben's attacks. Uriel then turned around and grabbed onto DeathLiger around the neck and lifted him up, slamming him to the ground.

Rhuben screamed in pain, feeling the shockwave of DeathLiger's pain shoot through her body over and over again until she fell to her knees, bringing her hands up to her head. "_You're going to pay_!" She hissed, voice as dry and dark as the energy flowing through her.

"I don't think so."

Uriel tightened his grip around DeathLiger's neck before he turned and grabbed onto Rhuben. Her arms slammed against her sides as she was pinned in Uriel's grasp. Uriel then brought DeathLiger and Rhuben together in a hard slam before flinging them to the ground. Rhuben rolled onto her back and looked up in time to find Uriel had grabbed a large wall of brick and started to throw it down onto her.

She then felt a tug on her arm before she was brought into a pair of arms and leapt far away from the attack as they could make it. Rhuben looked up into Reihu's face as he crouched on the ground and found that he had become more injured than she had noticed before. He was shaking, using all of his energy to keep her up, blood dripping down his face and pooling around his eye, breathing heavily.

She tightened her grip on him and he nodded in response, finally falling to his knees.

Julius and Sydney took over once their sister fell to the ground. With their similar abilities, maybe working together would help them take down Uriel once and for all. Julius summoned two large rock walls and sent one flying forward, why Sydney used his abilities on the other to break up the slap of rock into smaller pieces that would continuously shoot forward and crash into Uriel. Once his attention was diverted, the two Elementals raced toward their opponent.

"Fire spirits!" Sydney called, his staff starting to glow red.

"Infernal Blow!" Julius called.

The elder Jackson's hands erupted into flames and he sent a steam of fire straight towards Uriel, the other into a nearby storefront. Uriel deflected the rush of flame but didn't react in enough time to stop the other attack. The storefront immediately imploded and raining debris of fire out towards Uriel. Julius then turned his stream of fire into a fire sword and leapt high into the air.

"Double Strike!" He and Sydney shouted. Sydney turned the front of his staff into a flame sword as well, the entire weapon becoming consumed in flame and they slashed down with the swords at the same time. Uriel brought up his hands and the flames struck an invisible wall, sending the two back once more. But it didn't deter them.

"Arctic Armour!" Julius became encased in ice and shot towards Uriel once ore as Sydney pulled up his own ice spirit powers. "Ice Crash!" A crystal ball of ice appeared in the air and exploded, sending shards down into him once more.

"Herald of Ice!" Sydney added, creating a wave of ice that moved like water, towards Uriel. Uriel turned around and punched a fist through the wave of water and grabbed Sydney around the chest, pulling him into the wall of ice. He crashed into it, Uriel pushed his hand forward, moving Sydney away from the wall, and pulled back once more, striking him again.

Julius turned around as he heard his baby brother's cries, and lowered the shield of ice from around him. "Rudin!" He called and watched as his guardian flew overhead to take care of Uriel. Julius used his enhanced speed to race over to his brother as he was heading towards the ice wall once more. He reached his brother in enough time and, creating an axe of wood, brought it down upon the invisible hand that held his brother, and grabbed onto Sydney around the waist, knocking him to safety. Sydney ducked his head into his brother's chest and curled himself into a ball as the two fell to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Julius as his brother as soon as they were in the clear.

Sydney nodded and looked up as Spirit Saru appeared on his shoulder. "I had him with me. Thanks, Juli." Despite feeling the familiar sensation of irritation at the nickname his brothers and sisters insisted on calling him, Julius held onto his brother tightly as they got to their feet. "I don't think any of us even made a dent against him and his powers."

"It doesn't seem like anything is going to work unless we can figure out how to get Bailey to tap into Aeon's power," SpiritSaru commented. He looked up and let out a squeak as there was another implosion and Rudin flew their way. Leaping off of Sydney's shoulder, SpiritSaru turned once in the air, creating a spirit shield that caught Rudin before he hit the ground. "And fast." He looked over as Riley, with the help of DalFang and Koto—who suddenly raced by with more energy Julius and Sydney had ever seen—took her turn against Uriel. "None of us are going to be able to hold him off; I don't even think Zack and Cody can do anything."

"We'll have to keep trying."

* * *

Mr. Moseby winced and let out a low moan as there was another explosion. They couldn't see much from where they were standing, but the sounds they could hear didn't seem like their heroes were doing much to stop Uriel. He was just too strong.

"We have to do something," London insisted. "Let me go and get my fighter jet!"

"Your fighter jet isn't going to help, London!" Maddie snapped. Seeing the Asian girl lower her eyes, she reached out to her best friend and held onto her tightly. "Uriel could probably crush it in his palm quicker than you can get it off the ground. I don't want anything to happen to you, London, you're safe here." London gave a small smile and Maddie gazed at her in surprise. "That was really brave."

"Yeah, well…" London shrugged. "You don't know what's happened while the rest of us were on the boat."

"Well, let's make sure that you can tell me later."

"Okay."

London and Maddie hugged each other tightly. Esteban brought a hand to his mouth and quickly chewed on his nails. He looked over at the scientists as the continued to look over the monitor on the front of Project ATOM. He couldn't help but notice the concerned frown on Core's fac. "What?" He asked. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing that's wrong," Core said quickly. "More of something that I can't understand. We're picking up on some strange anima energy that I haven't seen before. There's the energy from Uriel and the rest of the Elementals but this is something that I don't know where it's coming from."

"Is that good?" Mr. Moseby's heart lifted in his chest. "Is it someone that's going to help?"

"We don't know, mate." Reed shook his head. "It could be something that's going to help Uriel. We have no idea the kind of power he already has within him, if it was lowering or just getting stronger." All of a sudden he cursed and punched his thigh.

"What is it?" Renee asked, looking worriedly up at her husband before turning to look in the direction that her children were fighting.

"It's a portal," Kristen finally realized. "A portal to the Element World is opening somewhere. But we can't be sure if it's coming from someone that'll hurt or help or where it's coming from." She turned her gaze to the sky before closing her eyes and turning away, pressing her face into Christian's chest as the wind around them suddenly increased.

Mr. Moseby was the only one that couldn't look away from the fight going on further down the block. Every time there was an explosion of power there were bright colors of light and he could feel the ground shake beneath his feet seconds before the shockwave hit them. Looking over at Diamond, watching as the soldier continued to stand back with the rest of the group, Mr. Moseby reached out and grabbed onto the pistol that sat tucked in the back of his pants.

"Hey!" Diamond cried.

"Mr. Moseby, stop!" Maddie called after him as he started to run towards the battle, his Tipton tie flapping as he went. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help them somehow!" Mr. Moseby shouted back over his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder for a second and smiled when he found Esteban grab the shotgun off of Diamond and started to run after the hotel manager. The bellboy always did want to help Mr. Moseby in any way he could. When they were close enough they came to a stop and watched the fight in front of them, staring in horror as the kids they had known since they were young teens fought as hard as they could, bouncing back no matter how critical the hit they took. But he could see them slowing down.

Mr. Moseby opened the pistol to check the chamber and looked at the green, blue, and white bullets that rested inside. Esteban lowered the shotgun and aimed at Uriel, firing off three shots while Mr. Moseby followed it up with three shots from his pistol. The bullets within the Element gun shot out spear-like vines, a wave of water, and a blast of light that show out and struck Uriel at the same time as the bullets from the shotgun.

Zack and Cody immediately turned around, leaving themselves to be knocked into the ground. They quickly scrambled back to their feet. "Mr. Moseby, Esteban, run!" Cody shouted.

"Hurry, go!" Zack added.

The two nodded and turned on their heels, racing back towards their friends, the wind making it tough for them to gain and progress. Once they reached Maddie and the other once more they turned around to find they had brought the fight closer to them than before. Uriel had started to go after them as they had managed to injure him, but Zack and Cody quickly got into the way and were trying their hardest o hold him back as long as they could.

"We have to set it off," Core finally said, turning to Project ATOM and turning knobs and buttons on it.

"What?!" Bailey and Aaron cried in unison. It was the first time they had spoken as they had become preoccupied with trying to figure out the language being used within the pages. There were a few lists that Bailey recognized having read before that spoke of Zack's and Cody's awakening years ago. Others she could see were spells and incantations that Mother Nature had used before; evident from the recipe lists that had been created. But there were other things she found with them, pictures and symbols. Some she recognized as the symbols her friends held along their skin, showing the mark of their Elements but otherwise she couldn't get a grasp of it. "No. No. No!" Bailey started to turn the pages faster, desperate for something to jump out at her. "Not yet! Please give me more time!"

"Dad," Aaron pleaded. "You know what'll happen if you do!"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have a choice," Christian said. "If this is the only thing that'll keep him from destroying everything."

"But you're going to destroy them, too!" Bailey insisted. "Their powers will be gone! The after-effects of the dark matter, x-elements, dark energy…and whatever else sort of particles that will be released may hurt them more than topping Uriel."

"It's no use!" Uriel's voice commanded over the empty streets, swirling around them with the wind. "You will never stop me! I am too strong. I've been going too easy on you all this time." As if to prove his point, Uriel reached out and pressed a fingertip into a nearby tree, the only one around that still had emerald green leaves. As soon as he touched it, it fell apart, rotting within seconds, leaves falling from the tree and dusted the ground. "But now playtime is over! I know that you're the reincarnates of those that banished me from the Element World all these years ago and now both worlds are going to come down to my wrath!"

He knocked Zack and Cody aside with a sweep of his arm and charged towards Project ATOM with blinding speed.

"Stop!" Riley shouted.

"MOM!" Crystal screamed. "DAD!"

"NO!" Julius shouted.

Bailey continued to flip through the book before closing it and holding it against her chest. She closed her eyes, a tear slipping down her cheek as she waited for the pain to come. There was a sudden bright blast of light and Bailey felt nothing but warmth envelop her. She slowly opened her eyes and found Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca all standing in front of her, smiling warmly.

"W-what?" she gasped. "What's going…where have you been?" She then paused, a sickening thought encompassing her. "Am I dead?"

"No, child, you're still very much alive," Geneva said with a warm smile. "I'm glad to be able to see you again, my friend." She reached up and grasped onto Bailey's hand. "Aeon. You've finally allowed yourself to come in and realize your power once more."

Bailey/Aeon smiled in response and looked down at the book she held in her hands. She sighed happily as she opened it and found that she could read each and every word clearly. She should have been able to, it was her native language. "We're sorry we were unable to help you," Gattaca added. "We needed you to come into your power yourself. Once we felt you were doing so, we opened the portal to reach you."

"Thank you," Bailey/Aeon said. She held her book to her chest. "I know what to do now. We're going to help these kids defeat Uriel." Then she slowly shook her head. "But we can't have any of this without life and death."

"You're right," Mother Nature agreed. "We would all cease to be, not in death but in nothing."

"Don't worry." Bailey/Aeon smiled widely, a confident smile. "Gaia and I can handle this." She looked over to the lone figure that stood at the far end of the circle. He grinned at her, his grey eyes flashing, equally gray hair moving along with a lone wind that blew around them. "Thank you for helping me for so long. With your help, Aaron was able to tell Bailey about the cores of the Earth and Element World. I know it's where Uriel is drawing his power from and with Project ATOM we can stop him."

"You're very welcome, Aeon," Gaia said, his voice holding an accent hat Bailey didn't recognize. It sounded Greek, but an accent all of its own as well. "I'll help you as much as you can, but you need to go back right now. The rest of us are here to help you with every step of the way. They've realized Mother Nature and Father Time's identities as well as Geneva and Gattaca, this will end now."

Bailey/Aeon nodded and closed her eyes.

She opened them once more and watched as Aaron completely glowed white, the energy shooting out in a blast that knocked Uriel in the face, sending him backwards until he crashed landed on his back on the ground.

The light faded around Aaron until it blinked out with a dying whimper.

Uriel was left out in the open, vulnerable.

_…_

_.._

_._

"What was that?" Zack whispered under his breath.

Cody slowly smiled. "I think it was the opening we were looking for." He pushed himself to his feet. "Phantom! Purity of Rain!"

Zack quickly followed his lead. "Blazen! Flame Totem!"

Blazen and Phantom shot towards Uriel and encompassed him in a rush of hard water that appeared from a cloud in the sky, pushing Uriel further into the ground, following it up with a wave of lava that replaced the water, melting the ground around Uriel, pushing him in even further.

"Blaze of the Heart! Fusion Form!"

"Water of the Soul! Fusion Form!"

Zack/Blazen and Cody/Phantom flew over to Bailey/Aeon and landed on the ground beside her. "Are you okay?" Zack/Blazen asked her.

"Yeah, I figure out how to stop this thing," Bailey/Aeon said quickly. "We need to use Project ATOM."

"Are you crazy?" Cody/Phantom demanded. He looked over at his friends as they lay on the ground, barely able to push themselves upwards. "What about our friends? We can't do that to them! If we can just get them out of the way."

"We don't have the time!"

As soon as the words came from her mouth there was a loud explosion and the three turned to find Uriel back to his feet, a column of black energy soaring around him and going up into the sky, blackening it by the second. He screamed and roared as he continued to take in as much energy as he could. They were about to succumb to his strongest attack. "If I can't defeat you…I'll take this world and the Element world down with me!"

"Do it now!" Bailey/Aeon cried towards Core. "Open it!"

Core swallowed thickly and nodded at the friends he had grown to know, lose, and find again over the years. Reed, Renee, Christian, and Kristen nodded at him. He then turned to Akito, who had been silent the whole time, watching the fight with his fox guardian by his side. He had a big smile on his face, relief evident throughout his entire body.

Finally, Core nodded and pressed a series of buttons that caused a loud, ear piercing screech to fill the air. Zack, Cody, and Bailey's friends all covered their ears and moaned, trying to block out the sound. Uriel's face twitched as the sound reached his ears as well, though he continued to suck in as much energy as he could hold.

"Vrtutem elementorum terra coniungeret; Ignire!" Bailey/Aeon cried, opening the book. It lifted into the air just as the bomb went off. The explosion from the bomb started to come outward. But instead of immediately destroying the buildings or the people right next to it, the energy converted into a bright beam of light that hovered above the book, turning into the shape of a sword. Smiling, Bailey/Aeon reached up and grabbed onto it.

"NO!" Uriel snarled. He took in the energy, a black/purple surrounding him, pulsing like a heartbeat. He surged towards them, eyes wild. "YOU WILL NOT BEAT ME!"

Zack/Blazen and Cody/Phantom moved in front of Bailey/Aeon to shield her but was stopped by a sudden combined blast of energy that knocked Uriel backwards a little bit. Surprised, the twin watched as Max, Tapeworm, Patrick, Noah, Crystal, Riley, Rhuben, Sydney, and Julius and their guardians stood in front of them, using their combined powers to hold Uriel back. They could see it was taking a huge toll on all of them but weren't going to give up.

"The pure white blade of the prophecy," Akito said in a low tone. "Finally."

Reaching up, Bailey/Aeon grasped onto the blade, holding it in her hand. It filled her with the same warmth she had felt before. This time even more comforting than before. Then two pairs of hands reached out and enclosed upon hers. Bailey/Aeon looked back and forth between Zack and Cody as the two grasped onto the handle of the blade around her. They nodded back and the three lifted the sword high into the air, taking in more light until the blade glowed in its entirety. Uriel struggled to get to his feet, to run, to get one last shot on them that would give him enough time to recuperate.

With a scream of effort, the three swung the blade, releasing the pent up energy within the three of them and the pure white blade, absorbing the shock wave and sending the blow out into Uriel. There was a brilliant light that brightened the area into nothingness. It absorbed all sound and disguised all movement as it continued to increase. Suddenly the light was mixed in with what appeared to be black lightning the two colors battling for dominance before the light overpowered it and engulfed the blackness once more.

The light faded.

Uriel was gone.


	49. Awake and Alive

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

* * *

Bailey stretched her arms over her head as she walked down into the kitchen. "Good morning," she chirped and headed over to the stove, breathing in deeply. "That smells great, Mrs. Manning."

"Thank you, Bailey," Kristen said with a bright smile. Her smile widened as Christian, who held a pitcher of juice in his hand, leaned over and gave her a kiss on the back of the head. "I hope you managed to get enough sleep. I know how noisy things can get here."

"That's alright," Bailey said with a wave of her hand. She smiled a little as she took the plate Kristen handed her and walked it over to the dining table. "Something tells me it's going to be quiet for a while." She shared a knowing smile with Crystal as she sat down at the table across from her before reaching over and pushing Aaron's chair in.

"I don't know," Max said as she rested her chin in her hands. "Anytime Zack and Cody are anywhere, they're never that quiet." She nudged Tapeworm with her elbow. "And to think we got caught up in that when they first moved here. We may have been able to live a normal life if we hadn't met them."

"Yeah, but we also wouldn't have been able to make some of the best friends we've ever had," Tapeworm contradicted. He then paused when Max frowned and elbowed him once more. "Apart from you, I mean." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing Crystal to laugh.

"Nice save, Tape," she said to him. "Nice save." She laughed again as their guardians suddenly appeared in their laps, placing their heads near their plates. "If you wanted anything, Dricer, you just had to ask." She lovingly patted the top of his head as her mother and father sat down at the table with them. "Daddy, I think your grocery bill is still going to be high no matter that my cousins moved you. And you know you'll be bored with how quiet it is."

"You're saying that now, but you'll probably be singing a different tune later," Christian warned her. He smiled over at his wife as Aaron moved to sit in her lap. Since Uriel's defeat he had grown close to Kristen very quickly. "Does everyone have enough?"

"I think so," Bailey said. She shook her head then her hands. "Oh, I don't know if I can even eat. I haven't seen my Mom and Dad in so long and they're coming here to see me get an award! It's like a dream come true."

"It wouldn't have been possible without all of you," Kristen pointed out, wrapping her arms around Aaron's stomach. "You certainly deserve it. "

There was no one else more deserving.

* * *

"Zack! Wake up!"

Zack rolled onto his side and opened his eyes to find Cody standing above him, hands on his hips. Raising an eyebrow, Zack reached up and rubbed a hand over his eye. "Why is it whenever I'm having a really great dream I wake up to a nightmare?"

"No one's attacking, Zack," Cody reassured him.

"I didn't mean that, I meant waking up to _your _face!" Sitting up, Zack rubbed at both of his eyes and yawned, stretching as hard as he could. "I haven't gotten that much sleep in a long time. Not having to worry about anyone attacking is such a strange feeling." He turned and glanced at the floor, where Blazen sat in his small form nestled in some of Zack's shirts. The one thing he certainly hadn't lost was his messy tendencies. "What do you think, Blazen? Are you bored without having to constantly fight someone?"

"No. I actually find it to be very peaceful," Blazen replied. He flew up and perched on his ward's shoulder. "Besides there's plenty to do in the Element World. So going back and forth has given us enough to do." Cody smiled lightly and reached out a hand for Zack to grab onto and get pulled to his feet.

"Get dressed; I already got the food set up and everything."

"That's great, in your free time you've become so much more of a girl than you were before." Zack stood up and roughed his hand over Cody's shorter hair. "At least you've finally got the hint and cut your hair, Goldilocks."

"At least I can change my hair, you can't always change your personality," Cody shot back. "It's too late for that." He and Zack smirked at each other before Cody left the room so that Zack could get dressed. Once finished, Blazen moved to sit on his head and he headed out into the sitting area of the suite. He stopped to give his mother a kiss on the cheek and his father a pat on the back before going over to the window that looked over the street. He pulled it open and stuck his head out in the fire escape, coughing as he waved cigarette smoke from his face. "Koto, it's almost time for breakfast."

"I'm good out here, thanks," Koto replied. He stabbed his cigarette down onto the railing of the fire escape. "I'll be in, in a few minutes." His green eyes shone as he smirked. "I don't want to miss the action."

"Ha ha."

Zack pulled his head back in front the window as there was a knock on the door to the suite and it opened with a flourish as Maddie, London, Julius, and the Jacksons all walked inside, carrying plates and trays. Reihu trailed behind them, immediately going over to the fire escape and climbing out, greeting Koto with a head nod.

"Hey, everyone's here!" Kurt cried cheerfully. He motioned to the large table that had been set up. "Come sit down. We need to dig in or we'll miss our flight."

"It's a private flight, mate, I don't think we have any worries on being late," Reed pointed out. He handed Carey a bottle of wine and she smiled her thanks, bringing it over to the wine rack in the corner of the suite.

"Where are London, Mr. Moseby, and Esteban?" Renee asked her arms wrapped around Sydney's shoulders. "I thought they would be joining us as well."

"They're in a very exclusive, top secret meeting with Wilfred Tipton," Carey explained. She placed her hands on her hips. "It figures the only time that he started to care about London's well-being was when she was directly threatened by something that shouldn't even exist."

"Yeah, you know, last I heard, she was creating a fleet of specialized fighter jets," Maddie said. "So I think the scarier thing is that she may be piloting one of them soon." She laughed with the others as Julius kissed her on the side of the head. "All of this looks so good, Carey."

"Actually, Cody made it," Zack interrupted, reaching out and taking Riley's hand in his.

"If Mom made it, you all would've been poisoned as soon as you walked through the door," Cody added, causing Carey to roll her eyes and pointed at him.

Patrick eagerly rubbed his hands together. "I don't care who made it as long as I can eat it, I'm starving!" He flung himself into a chair and started to pile up his plate. "Powers or not, moving is not joke. It's so bloody boring."

"You got your offer taken on the place you were looking at?" Carey's eyebrows rose as the others followed Patrick's lead and started to sit down as well. "That was pretty quick, don't you think?"

"It sort of had to be," Rhuben pointed out. "Not many people want to move into the neighborhood where so much had been destroyed." She tucked her hair behind her ear as she finished filling out two places. "But if there's anyone that can turn it around, I'm sure it's Core. He's really persuasive as it is." She turned on her heel and walked the plates of food out to the fire escape, handing it out to Koto and her boyfriend before sitting on the window sill to join them.

"Can you believe he's been elected into a position of political power?" Reed said with a lopsided smile. "I'd be worried if I didn't know him so well."

"Think of it this way, Dad, if you and Mum didn't vouch for him since the whole WingzCorp thing, it might fall to someone else that wouldn't know how to rebuild," Sydney pointed out.

"Or would become so corrupt they'd bring the city to the ground," Riley added, squeezing Zack's hand. "Which certainly would've been the last thing we needed on top of everything else we've already gone through, yeah?" Zack smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

That had been the same thing that plagued his and Cody's minds for a while since things calmed down. No matter how much they fixed buildings and tourism around the city, there was the chance that someone else could have come into power that wanted to get rid of their presence entirely or try to make the city better, by taking it down and building it back up. Thankfully no one had come around to do that and they had an easy sense of rebuilding in the city.

"If anyone else is going to do it, it may as well be Core," Noah agreed. It was the loudest Zack had ever heard him talk or the biggest he had seen him smile. "If Diamond hadn't had gotten that big promotion I'm sure he would have done it as well."

"Speaking of, we really should get dig in," Julius agreed. "Brekkie isn't going to eat itself and these guys aren't going to wait for us." Everyone sat down around the table and started to fill their plate with food. Zack sat down between Reed and Riley with Cody sitting across from him, grinning brightly. No matter how long Zack had gotten to know Reed since their fight, he was still a little nervous around the man despite how warm and inviting the man had been.

It was probably one of the few things he wouldn't get over.

Still, knowing Cody was always there to vouch for him—despite knowing he was also the first to throw him under the bus just for laughs—and had his back in general comforted him more than anything else. The work they had to do after the fight would have been difficult if Cody hadn't been there to help him out. Now they were going to be recognized in the same right.

Cody smiled back at his brother as he caught his eye, before allowing Phantom to sit on the table, giving him a piece of watermelon to eat. He reached out and gently ran his hand along Phantom's back. There was nothing that was going to ruin this, no one that was ready to take them over, no prophecy to deal with. He had his friends by his side, a girlfriend that he dearly cared for, and a family that had been brought back together by something he hadn't wanted to keep secret in the first place.

They had come a long way and there was nothing that he wanted more than to relax.

And he finally got it.

There was nothing more in the world he could ever want.


	50. EPILOGUE

EPILOGUE

* * *

"These brave souls have given a lot of their strength, power, and life to face everything that has come their way to save the world. It is our honor to present them with Combat Action Badges as well as to officially announce the Elemental Action Coalition to aid in the spread of peace around the world with Elemental influences."

Diamond held out his arm and led the applause that were for the Zack, Cody, Max, Tapeworm, Bailey, Maddie, Julius, Crystal, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, and Aaron were all given the aforementioned badges and for the work they had dedicated their lives to for the past five years. The audience got to their feet and continued to applaud the group.

The last time they had been in a place of such political statue had been in the State House in Boston, not long before they had managed to completely destroy it. Now they were standing in the White House, getting the recognition they had always deserved and more.

It would probably be a long time before the entire world saw it that way.

But that moment was all they needed.

* * *

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N:** Whew! The story is now officially over. It would've taken much longer if I hadn't had taken my sister's suggestion to write out the rest of the story and then break it up into chapters. That way I could focus on getting the rest of the story done rather than get sidetracked with it chapter by chapter and lose my flow. So, as I had said before I had an idea for a fourth and fifth story (which I have mushed into one idea) that I may put up. I haven't decided yet. I still have to do Cody's sequel to _Save Me From Myself _as well as another 'normal' Suite Life story idea, and the re-write of the _HOME _series so we'll see.

Thank you to _owlhero _for reading reviewing as well as some things he mentioned in reviews giving me ideas for future chapters and things. I always like to see what you have to say to what I write and you've always kept me thinking in terms of how to stump you. Sometimes you've managed to guess things I do before I do it.

And of course thanks to my sisters for bouncing ideas off of them as well as helping me remember certain attacks their character representations had, some plot points that we had brought up in older stories that I may have forgotten, as well as listening to me gripe about how long it took me to write this story. Lol.

Thanks again.


End file.
